Kelly Ripa Emotionally Recalls How 'Brutally Painful' It Was to Drop Son Joaquin Off at College

Television host Kelly Ripa recently opened up about dropping her youngest son Joaquin at college, which she described as a "brutally painful" experience.

According to Ripa, she and her husband Mark Consuelos took their 18-year-old son to the University of Michigan for the start of the semester, but the mother-of-three didn't expect it to be so hard.

The couple went through the same situation with 20-year-old daughter Lola and 24-year-old son Michael, but Joaquin was the last one, the last chick to leave the nest.

AN EMOTION MOMENT

Upon arriving at the school, Ripa hugged her son, knowing that she would be letting him go, and told him that she didn't realize 18 years would go by so fast. She added:

"He was just giving me a hug. But he turned to walk away and I said, 'Wait, Joaquin, one more!' And he kept walking. And I knew that it was happening to him too, the emotion."

AN OLD AND SWEET JOKE

Ripa explained that "one more" was a family joke, something that she used to do to her children when they were younger when it was time to go to bed.

Now, Ripa and Consuelos are empty nesters.

The 50-year-old said that she would tuck them in bed, give them plenty of kisses and cuddles, wish them a goodnight and leave the room only to come back and say, "one more, one more."

Ripa recalled how that used to make them giggle and laugh, and they would squeal and scream. That part of their day was always very exciting for them.

ONE MORE

However, she was able to go through that experience again recently, as Lola and Michael moved back in during the pandemic and asked her to sleep in her room so they would be there when she woke up.

The plan was for Ripa to wake up on her 50th birthday and find her children all around her, and after kissing them goodnight, Lola asked her to do "the thing she used to do," and they loved it.

Now, Ripa and Consuelos are empty nesters and are trying to make the best of it by going to the beach with their two dogs and spending time together.