One thing....

....you never retire from is being a parent. As anyone with children can attest, no matter how old your kids are - whether they be infants, teens, or in their thirties or forties, you absolutely never stop worrying about them.

One time, when I was in my early 40's, my mom - in her late seventies at the time, sat me down, looked me straight in the eyes, and asked me "How is your life going?" She knew I had been through a rough patch, and I had health issues, having had a heart attack a few years before at the tender age of 37. I was somewhat taken aback by her question as I was, after all, a man, raising a family with my bride of some seventeen years, consisting of three children. When I replied, "Everything's fine, Mom. Why do you ask?" Her response was "Well, I worry about you." Pressing the issue, I asked why. She responded, "Parents always worry about their kids."

Of course, at the time, I didn't think that would be the case with me. When my kids were "Grown and gone", my worries would be over. No more helping guide them through the "formative" years. Just carefree times enjoying their company as adults as they thrived and prospered.

As with most things, the wisdom of my parents didn't ring true until I reached a certain age. Just as when they were youngsters, every hurt the children experience as adults, my heart wishes I could absorb for them, sparing them the realities of life.
But, of course, this is not possible now, nor was it then. All we can do is lend a sympathetic ear and offer a hug - much like we kissed away the boo-boos and hugged them tightly when they experienced hurt as little ones.

It is, I suppose, simply part of the love parents have for their children. Something inexplicable to people who don't have children of their own.

Old Fart Mike