The land of the grandchildrenless
I mentioned my parents went to a party on Saturday. Their friends up in Harvard were hosting what they called a fall festival, and dad figured they'd be bringing home leftovers like they did from the friends' summer barbecue. Imagine my disappointment when there were zero treats that were brought back; there were three plates of food in July. Dad went, yeah, there were 60 people at the party, and it was mostly for the little kids.
...What little kids, I asked. The hosts have no grandkids. The husband's daughter is older than me, maybe 50, and she didn't have kids. The couple's son is about 30 and has not had kids to date. Well, the couple has a lot of siblings between them, and their kids had kids, so the little kids in question are their great-nieces and nephews. Ah, okay.
That then made me think, wait a minute, there's a number of the friends that don't have grandkids. Obviously my parents are in the boat; dad's BFF has a son who is also older than me but he and his wife did not have kids, either. A few of dad's friends didn't have kids at all. Sure, there are some who raised families and those kids have gone off and gotten married and had their own children, but yeah, my dad at least isn't alone in that boat.
...What little kids, I asked. The hosts have no grandkids. The husband's daughter is older than me, maybe 50, and she didn't have kids. The couple's son is about 30 and has not had kids to date. Well, the couple has a lot of siblings between them, and their kids had kids, so the little kids in question are their great-nieces and nephews. Ah, okay.
That then made me think, wait a minute, there's a number of the friends that don't have grandkids. Obviously my parents are in the boat; dad's BFF has a son who is also older than me but he and his wife did not have kids, either. A few of dad's friends didn't have kids at all. Sure, there are some who raised families and those kids have gone off and gotten married and had their own children, but yeah, my dad at least isn't alone in that boat.