One Big Benefit of Being 70
There are some things worse than getting old
On a recent flight from Atlanta to Minnesota, my husband and I sat behind a one-year-old, a toddler, and their grandmother.
The grandmother traveled on all her daughter’s business trips so she could babysit. “My daughter takes her children with her every time she travels, and I come along to take care of them,” the grandmother said. “My daughter’s company pays for all of us.”
On the way back from Minnesota to Atlanta, I witnessed a different scenario. The young mother beside me was face timing with her son, and I couldn’t help eavesdropping. The child had “trouble” written all over his chubby, freckled face.
“You will go straight to your room and not come out until your father gets home,” the mother said. The boy pressed his mug close to the screen and grinned.
“I mean it. Go to your room now!”
He darted off and the face of a harried, exhausted grandmother swam into view. “He’s not doing a thing I say,” said the grandmother.
“I wish I had a concrete room you could put him in until I get back,” the mother replied.
I thought she must be returning from a business trip, so I was surprised when she said, “I’ll call when I get to the motel. Hope things…
