I was also not able to have children, and did regret that at one time in my life, but over the years that void has been filled to overflowing with so many other wonderful opportunities that would not have been possible if I had had children that I no longer feel much more than the occasional twinge.

It is what it is. For me, there really was no choice but to accept it if I had any hope of living fully and healthfully in the here and now. I've learned the hard way that letting regrets about what I don't have gnaw away at me only blinds me to what I DO have. So I've been working very hard at focusing more on the positives in my life, and am discovering that they far outweigh the negatives!

Probably the biggest positive is that we relish our freedom to just up and go anytime and anywhere we want to. Someone from way up north calls and needs help to winterize their patio doors, we go. Someone else calls because they're lonely, we're off on the 4-hour drive to go have tea with them. We're the perfect customers for "hot deal" traveling...with no kids, we're free to go anywhere at a moment's notice.

Since I have no choice but to make do with what life has given me, I choose to work my way toward contentment. Not that it's easy...ask everyone here who has let me cry on their shoulders over the past year!