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Everybody's asking me how it feels, the pain/sadness of missing Nich. I didn't want to give any of you a half-hearted answer, But there's a bunch of you and I didn't want to pay even a single one of you short shrift. I feel, sincerely, that you, my parents, my sisters, my brothers, my dear, dear friends are all owed my best on this one. So here is my answer to your question, "How do you feel about Nich leaving home?"

Here's the short, and emotionally candid answer:

I swear to almighty Flying Spaghetti Monster that I feel fantastic. Yeah, I miss him. I get wistful. I was picking out my morning music and as I browsed the cds, I thought of him and I got the mildest feeling of sadness.

But it's got to be similar to the sadness engineers feel when they last touch something that's going into space. Like when Tom Kelly (You know how we got to the Moon? Well, Tom Kelly was the NASA Program Manager for that there vehicle what brung 'em up there). Anyway, it must feel the way Tom Kelly said goodbye to the Eagle, the Lunar Module (LEM), before it left Earth. Sure, he was bummed that he'd never get to touch it again, but holy cow, it was gonna land on the Moon!

I have a similar sense. Yes, Nich is gone. Not forever, but not in any way the same. It's permanent. This is a separation, a clear crossing of a clear line. It's almost palpable.

But he's going to experience arguably the lengthiest period of unmitigated joy in the average human lifespan. Sure, there are sweeter moments, watching your kids being more, staring at your bride, et cetera. But nothing comes close to college. It's like the greatest summer camp. And I love him and his happiness is my happiness and knowing that his heart is full blinds me to even the slightest pain.

As they say on Reddit, AMA (Ask Me Anything