I'm laying in bed listening to the happy voices of my daughter and her friends assembled in the kitchen. The steady babble interspersed with my daughter's laughter makes me smile. She is an infectious ray of happiness on her special day and it's lovely to lay quietly and listen to the hubbub downstairs. I can't detach myself from this personal accounting phase. Contemplating my divorce and the approach of my 65th Birthday as my middle child attains this milestone with glee and anticipation.
On these days you savor what you helped make possible and cut yourself a break on what failed. There's just no other way to look at it.