Here's What One Nobel-Prize Contender was Most Proud of

We had just paid for two overpriced $10.50 IPAs at the Drake Hotel bar when I asked this question.  I regret I never implemented his answer as well I was expecting to on that day.
 
This was eight years ago, and I had an opportunity to meet with an academic hero who had been cross-cuttingly successful across a half-dozen of behavioral fields, but most notably in law.  His discoveries had changed the way cross-examinations and evidence weighting is done in certain felony cases.  One of my former Teaching Assistants had gone on to work with him, and this had eventually led to us meeting whenever I was in town.
 
Since he only had an hour, we met for a quick drink.  After enthusiastically  telling me about a new project, I asked, “Of all that you’ve done in your life, what makes you most proud?”  I was half expecting that he’d probably say one of his legal discoveries, or maybe he’d talk about his two grown children.  Neither.  He paused for maybe 20 seconds and then said this:
 
“What I’m most proud of is how I was I was really present for both my father and mother in the last years of their lives.”  
 
He explained that he had “being really there for them” and had made it a central priority. No regrets about what other projects he might not have started or finished because he was focused on making them feel comfortable, loved, special, and that they had led meaningful, appreciated lives.  
 
At the time both of my parents were healthy and 85, and I vowed I’d make sure I did the same. ​
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​I keep thinking that his last 18 months would have been easier had we moved him in to live with us.   My wife wanted to, but I thought there were too many uncertainties.  Instead, we moved him into assisted living about a mile from my brother, who could then see him most days, and where we would travel the 10 hours down to see him every couple months.  Thinking back, if he had moved in with us, he might not have lived longer, but I think he would have been happier.

When a heroic, single-surviving parent can no longer live by themselves, the decision about where they should go deserves a lot of heartfelt thought.  There's a difference between "being there for them" and "being really present in the last years of their lives." Being present was what he was most proud of having accomplished. I now wish I would have given to that level. 

I hope that if you are still blessed with one of more living parents, you'll give think about this in a way you won't regret in eight years. ​