When we got married, my wife knew she couldn't have kids. I was delighted and supportive for many reasons. For a dozen years, we were free of the responsibility and lived a life traveling, building our careers, enjoying each other and then our friends started having kids and her motherly urges kicked in. We adopted. Life changed immediately. I'll save the stories for later. Your essay is very poignant. Owning a bar sound like a lot of work but fun.