This is a beautiful piece! I’d like to say a word in favor of age: My father in law is a WWII veteran who saw combat, was a POW in a German camp, and was among the first division on the scene at the liberation of Dachau. All under the age of 20. He came home determined to succeed, and to succeed, he gave up his dream of being a history professor and went into banking.

When my very sensitive, artistic husband was growing up, he heard constant messages like: “Grow up and act like a big 2-year old.” “Men don’t cry.” “It’s a tough world, and if you don’t learn it now, God help you.”

Now, in his 90’s, my father in law is letting his emotional guard down. He talks about how it felt to be thrust into a war as a teenager. He talks about some of his regrets. He describes how, at the age of 12, it was difficult to suddenly change schools.

Beneath the shell of hyper masculinity, even the Greatest Generation needed to touch others at the heart level. How much more true this is today.