We hold our children by letting them go. DH is an only child. If at the age of 16 or 18 he had decided to emigrate to Australia his mother would have packed his bag seen him off to the airport and told him how delighted she was to see him spreading his wings and kept her tears for later. As a result DH was devoted to his mother and I had a wonderful mother in law.
When we are young we often do things that hurt our parents without intention, perhaps Happygran, your son may just be doing everything his girlfriend wants without thinking of you, maybe she is afraid of you rejecting her as he is the 'baby' in the family, none of these things may be true, but I know I did things as I grew up that I realise made my mother sad and both my children, now in their 40s did things that made me feel on the outside looking in when they were in their 20s, but it was not intentional and now, we are as close as ever.
Bought the wrong Hot Cross Buns 😩
How much do you spend on yourself?
Things you find stressful that other people don't notice.