I just can't imagine being a grandfather at >70... and seeing NOTHING of that generation before I'm doomed to dementia/death.

My Grandparents were a HUGE part of my life... and knowing that some people don't want to be that positive influence to their grandkids lives is disappointing. Raising kids is a hard thing to do. To not be around when my daughters need the help is something that I refuse to acknowledge as "healthy" just because some numpties on the internet think that everyone should be older than 35 to have kids.

As it stands, I haven't needed my parents much at all for raising my kids (I was 26 for my oldest, I would have been fine going a bit younger as I was more or less in the same situation). But they're there if something happens (familial fallbacks are great bus factor multipliers.)

A lot of what I'm reading here sounds like most people seem to think that you should be 100% self-sustaining before you do ANYTHING... and that's just not an answer that works in my brain.

Edit: This whole premise is actually a really good way to kill generational knowledge. My dad doesn't know nearly the same stuff my grandfather does about the family.