Elton John's recent vocal contemplations upon aging and dying aren't the only example of this principle being demonstrated through what might be termed "high-profile" persons.

Late last summer, for instance, Oscar-winning heavyweight Robert Deniro also held forth on growing older, admitting he had no choice but to "embrace" the process. Echoing the aforementioned British pop superstar, Deniro even floated graveside speculations: "I'm going to put on my gravestone, 'I tried my best,'" and "Please forgive me for everything that I've done."

In what has become almost a Hollywood cliché, the eighty-one-year-old father of seven (by four different women) indicated his commitment to his craft had often hobbled involvement with his children; that his quest for career kudos may not have altogether justified the cost to them.

Deniro's concession reminds us: As long as someone's blood is pumping and mind is operating there remains opportunity to get things right where needed. Good on him for, it seems, walking out that counsel. And doing it publicly where others can observe it ... and, prayerfully, be inspired by it?

Ironic, isn't it, that in our abortion-saturated age, the child/parent nexus persists in gobbling up lots of attention -- including among celeb-types. Robert Deniro would be one of them ... Matrix actor Carrie-Anne Moss another.

At a much earlier stage of her Tinsel Town trajectory, Moss adopted some drastic steps her more seasoned colleague self-confessedly did not. The fifty-seven-year-old Canadian divulged to The Independent her "career took a back seat" to rearing her three little ones following their births during the 2000s."She did continue to work when her parenting duties allowed," but her comments are unvarnished: