A lovely piece, very poignant. Not sad. More reflective. A "woman's" story to be sure, because it speaks to the issue of the choice to be childless. But, broad enough to speak to anyone reflecting on their life.

You are a very versatile writer.

If you haven't seen it you might enjoy an old movie on this topic, "The Big Chill". It's about "growing up" and loosing our friends. How that changes us and influences what we become.

At its heart though, isn't this a story about the price of "opportunity" and "mobility"?

We grow up with childhood friends in our "village". People we once would have known our whole lives and seen almost every day. Then we leave them behind to go off to university.

We make new friends. Again, people we see almost every day and share the experience of University with. We imagine ourselves "together forever", as you put it.

Then we go our separate ways and wind up living in separate countries, cities, places. When we discover that friendship, like relationships, rarely survives long separation.

Long ago, I realized something about the heroes of the great tales. They are always alone.

Because, there is a price to be paid for the freedom to move about. To travel, to have adventures, to see the world.

It costs you, you pay with your connections to other people. Because relationships/friendships take time, effort, and being together.

I guess I would ask you after reading this, do you regret your choices?

FYI: I am a “childless” male. My father had me sterilized as a child because I was “retarded”. Not an uncommon thing in the the 50’s and 60’s for parents of the “mentally challenged” to do to their kids.

So that we wouldn’t produce another generation of “idiots” or bastards they might ending up having to care for.