DEAR ABBY: My mother was 38 when I was born. She was 44 when I started grade school, and 56 when I graduated from high school. Her age was never an issue or a source of embarrassment. Ours was the house all the kids came to after school, the house that hosted the slumber parties, bake sales -- you name it. Ours was the house where everyone felt comfortable.
Mother was my best friend. We traveled together, talked on the phone almost every day, shopped together, laughed together and cried together. She died in 1995, at the age of 81. I miss her every day.
Advanced age doesn't preclude one's being a good parent. It depends on the individual. Although I lost my mother sooner than I would have wished, I never forget how lucky I was to have her. -- MARY-LOVE BIGONY, AUSTIN, TEXAS
DEAR MARY-LOVE AND DEAR READERS: To sum it up, in the words of Julie Petrus, of Pflugerville, Texas: "The question is not whether you're too old to have children -- it's what kind of parent are you going to be when you do have children?"
Thank you for the outpouring of heartfelt letters on this subject. I regret that space limitations prevent my printing more of them.