Recently, I had a conversation with an elderly man - a shut-in - who lost his wife not long ago. He told me about how much he missed her, and about the wonderful, childfree life they had enjoyed when they were younger. They had traveled, and collected art, and had never regretted their decision to forego having kids. Never, that is.until they began experiencing the illnesses and injuries that generally come with growing old. As it turned out, his beloved wife ended up spending her final years bedridden, and he suffers from several serious ailments as well.
Today he is very much alone. His parents and siblings are gone, and most of his friends are dead or being cared for by family members themselves. He does receive occasional visits from members of the church to which he and his wife belonged, but mostly he spends his days watching television and - as he explained to me - second-guessing his decision not to become a parent. He said that he and his wife hadn't wanted to take on the responsibility of children; they were having too much fun. But when they became older, and needed help themselves, there was no one around to take on the responsibility for them.
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