PenPenWrites

One of my Notes to Self hit a chord with a former colleague I haven't seen in 25 years. She emailed me to respond to "Let them treat you to something." I had posted a note on a very special birthday outing from my son and daughter-in-law–and the difficulty I had in recognizing that I would be belittling them if I tried to pay. My colleague's son is a good deal younger than mine. But I'll let a portion of her email speak for itself:

"I well remember your sage advice when I was pregnant with my son; just about everything you said to expect came true. Now he's 23 and working, still lives home with us (for now). He's very generous, pays for room and board and sometimes dinners out for us all. Like you, I found it hard to get used to the largess, but now I realize that psychologically, it puts him on more of an even footing with us, and has helped him transition into adulthood."

Couldn't have said it better.