Talk To Me: I'm in my 70s and I feel like I've been cast aside by my adult sons

Psychologist Caroline Martin is here to answer your questions on whatever issues you are dealing with in life, from work pressure and stress to loneliness and grief

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I separated from my husband 15 years ago. I’m now in my early 70s and feeling isolated. My two sons keep in touch mostly by calls and texts. When their children were younger, I helped with babysitting, which meant we were in regular contact. But now they no longer need my help and it feels like I’ve been cast aside. We only see each other a few times a year. I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve done something wrong.

As a mother you have, in the words of Yeats’s ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’, “looked upon those brilliant creatures”, and now your “heart is sore”. So much has changed, now your children and grandchildren tread more gently through your daily routine, compared to their youthful clamour.