Al Roker Is an Empty Nester Again with His Son's Return to College

Al Roker's son, Nicholas Albert Roker, is done with his winter break and heading back to college following a fun holiday with his parents. The 20-year-old got to revisit an Island he had been to in 2014, and his parents flooded their socials with delightful holiday moments.

Al Roker and his now grown-up college-attending son shared a portion of the boy's winter break. The weathercaster and his son Nicholas Albert Roker went on vacation to an Island they once visited when Nicholas was younger.

Al shared a throwback picture of himself next to his son on the Island, next to another picture from their recent leisure time. In the second picture, the weatherman is towered over by his 20-year-old son. He mentioned that little has changed since.

Al's wife, Deborah Roberts, joined in on the Roker family vacation fun. Al shared a couple of selfies with his wife and child and revealed in the caption that vacation really feels like a vacation when your children are old enough.

Deborah also shared some images on her social media, with a few posts on her Instagram story. She shared a photo of Al and his son posing for a snap as the sun set behind them. Their holiday location remains unknown, but the smiles on their faces were easy to locate.

After all the fun under the tropical sun, Nicholas's winter break holiday has ended. Al shared a photo of Nicholas at a train station, looking well-equipped for his return to college in his grey puffer jacket, grey Nike joggers, and a couple of luggage bags.

In the photo, Nicholas poses with an approving thumbs-up, close to his always-present smile. Al wrote in the caption, "Well, the nest is empty again, now that my beautiful boy hopped a train back to college after #winterbreak." His post is a fitting farewell after the fantastic vacation they had.

Deborah also shared her goodbyes on Instagram. Fans expressed how much they relate to letting a child return to college. One user wrote, "It's just so hard when they leave. Going through the same thing today." Another said they agree with Deborah that it is hard to see their children leave.

Watching Nicholas go to college was always challenging for Al and his wife, even when he first enrolled last year. Upon his first trip to college, Deborah shared a picture of herself with her husband and child, standing before a loaded trunk. She wrote a heartfelt caption:

"Wednesday wonder. After all the hard work. All the discipline. All the dreaming. All the prayers. His moment to soar has come. (I'm not crying. I promise)."

She shared another image on Twitter announcing that her son was officially on his way to college.

When Nicholas graduated high school, his father spoke to the "Today Show" cast about the experience of witnessing his achievement. He said it was difficult, and his family was proud of him, as it took a village to help him along the way.

Al credited his son for completing the necessary work to graduate high school. The weatherman noted that his wife, Deborah, was primarily responsible for getting his son to the finish line.

Nicholas has developmental delays, which have made his journey growing up rather challenging for his parents. Nicholas's condition is in the line of autism, but his father believes the medical labels do not describe who Nicholas is.

Al is very proud of his son, and thanks to his talk with Deborah, Al learned that he has to show Nicholas that he loves him and admires him too. All that is important to the weatherman despite him sometimes feeling frustrated with Nicholas, who he called the best son ever.