At a library fair where we were displaying our book, Necessary Conversations Between Adult Children and Their Aging Parents, a woman stopped by our table. She glanced at the book cover, read the table of contents and walked away. Later she returned, spent more time examining the book, and with a pained look on her face muttered under her breath, “I can’t do it,” and left …

The northern Spain sun beat down on Deb Schmidt as she guzzled water and followed her husband, Don, to a roadside café. They lunched there before walking several more hours that day on the Camino de Santiago, a six-week, 500-mile walking pilgrimage. She was grateful to rest her sore knees …