I don't either think you are trying to get people feel sorry about you as I have read your posts and I feel like you are doing the best you can for the others while still struggling for yourself and it seems to me that atleast part of that struggling is for you to able to help others even better.
You should be proud of yourself and what you have been coping with.
---
(I think that the average age for frequent SL posters keeps getting up or then I have just briefly noticed that there are plenty of grandparents here. Soon there will be a thread for how to cope with drug addiction while staying at the nursing home as well as harm reduction subforum for the elderly
And please don't be embarressed about your age even if someone jokes about it. Age is just numbers but with the age often comes experience (if you can make something out of your experiences))