At Christmas, I gave my son a brand-new car and his wife a designer purse, thinking love still mattered. Then he smiled and said his wife wanted to “teach me a lesson,” so they had no gift for me.

townhome I had bought before retiring, paying nothing in rent while telling people they were “saving for a house.” They drove vehicles I helped finance. They used my credit card for groceries during what Daniel called a temporary rough patch.

Temporary had stretched into two years.

The $150,000 down payment was meant to be my final push to help them continue reading …