The evening was going well until a person 15 years younger than me started talking to me about his 2-year-old son. And I think of my life, alone and miserable playing the loser.
At least in the professional field, what I've seen is that anyone younger than you working on the same thing is already more successful than you.
Previously I used to feel bad about it, but now that I have accepted it, I feel happy that I made it there late rather than never. And it makes me want to improve to the point that I'll be the youngest one in the room with other peers.
Regarding parenthood I can't say much, but it definitely isn't a measure of success.