April 18, 2014
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Marilyn keeps moving around, but appears to have finally chosen a city and is living with her boyfriend who is also in his late 30s. He seems to lack the balls to propose so she”ll probably be 40 when the nest is ready to fill. Maybe she”ll have one kid. As is the case with all the people in this list, she would have made a fantastic mom and three kids would have been a perfect number for her.
Christian and Patty are in their 40s. They gave up after a couple miscarriages and although we love hanging out with them, I can”t help but feel a pall of sadness in the room when our kids come up in conversation. My wife and I generally avoid the topic.
Katherine finally settled down at 39 and had one kid. Her doctor told her she probably won”t be having more, which sucks, because her kid rules. I went to high school with her and asked why virtually none of our friends from back then had kids. Her theory is that our generation were the children of divorce and they are so damaged by it, they”re scared of marriage.
Eric is rich and his wife is 40 so they skipped over fertility drugs and adoption and went straight to surrogate. It ain”t easy finding a reliable woman to incubate your babies but after spending a ton of cash they pulled it off and have twins. Hearing him describe this process almost gave me a miscarriage.
Jerry is 62 and had his last kid in his 50s when his wife was 40. He never thought he”d be a father but now says, “The most beautiful word you”ll ever hear is “Daddy.”” He says he envies me for having three because as he put it, “Two just doesn”t cut it.”
Artie is 50 and he married a younger woman. They haven”t had kids yet but they will. Her ovaries have plenty of vigor but being a sixty-something dad trying to wrangle teenagers is going to be a challenge.
Jon is also 50 but he met a girl twelve years younger than him and managed to squeeze out a kid. They probably won”t have any more and they seem to be doing all right, but I can”t help but think about him at his daughter’s college graduation. He”ll be 70.
Shit, I”ll be 63. Why did I wait so long? Why did I believe that shit about overpopulation? Why did I waste so much time bucking a system that had been tried and true for thousands of years? Having children is a life-changing joy that makes everything that came before it seem like a stupid game. You can”t change the past but you can warn others not to repeat your mistakes. That’s what defines us as humans. We”re the only species that can tell stories to each other and share experiences. In that sense, trying to block these stories and hide these biological facts is inhuman. You can call it hate speech if you want. That doesn”t make it any less true.
