It's really important, in my opinion, to *play the hand we've been dealt; to do otherwise seems wasteful of the gift that is life. You and I are doing that I guess, and I believe we're doing a good job. Sure, there's aspect we have missed out on, however that doesn't mean our lives have been incomplete.
I understand what you're saying about having adult offspring around, I've thought the same, but we get by right?
There are not many (good) choices to choose from when deciding how to handle what life dishes out sometimes, but it is much easier to accept it and figure out how to make it as good as possible with what you get. Change what you can and work the rest of it in. Fighting it can only make you miserable. That is my theory.
A good theory, and I agree.