Road Not Taken

Sometimes I look at other people's children (O.P.C.) and think about the path not traveled. I think about how at my age, my own mother had a 20-year-old daughter. Our lives couldn't be more different. And I know she would really have enjoyed being a grandmother -- was even looking forward to it. I know it, even though we never speak of her disappointment, which I think is very kind.

It was hard for me when my 90-something grandmother, who passed away last year, looked deep into my soul with her Irish blue eyes and told me how much she really wanted to see me become a mother, as if she knew a secret to life that I did not yet possess and she did not want me to miss out on this. She never made it to Paris, though in her youth she had a serious offer. Children were the world to her.

I wouldn't call it family pressure, but it was emotionally distressing. Ever felt anything like that?

My next article will be on O.P.C.