This is the Moth Radio Hour.
I'm Sarah Austin.
Janess.
In this episode, stories told on moth stages around the world.
We'll bring you to the coast of Kenya, a remote island off Anchorage, Alaska, and a stage in Burlington, Vermont, and a swimming pool in Logan, Utah.
All are stories of rites of passage.
Our first storyteller, Jennifer Cohen, shares what it's like to live through the empty nester phase of life.
She told this at an open mic story slam in Burlington, Vermont, where we partner with Vermont Public Radio.
Here's Jennifer Cohen live at the mall.
So when my kids were little, the go to movie to watch when they were sick or it was raining was for some reason Annie the Musical.
And I would watch them sitting close together, three pair of bright blue eyes watching Carol Burnett sing Little Girls, Little Girls again and again and again.
And I told them, I said, you know, when you grow up and you go off to college and I'm all bored and lonely, I think the Flynn theater should do that musical Annie.
And I could be in it because I know all the songs, like every word.
And so this kind of bolstered me into this pretend auditioning for the show that I would do for the kids.
When I was in the car or on the beach or in the shower, I would sing Little Girls, Little Girls.
And they'd say, getting ready for the show, Mom?
Yeah.
So it's just like a weird family joke.
So the years just went by.
And the first one went off to college, and that was horrifying.