Thanks much for the very kind words. :)
Re the phenomenon you mentioned, of sentiment welling up, it is a well-known feature of late middle age, and IMHO it is partly the tug of approaching end of life issues, and partly it's an exaltation of vision, from the tiny circle of infancy to the slightly wider one of childhood, to the blurring-fast whirl of kaleidoscopic images and situations in adulthood, to (finally) the rising above former concerns to a widers, integrative view of the world and people's place in it -- and of what they're doing to each other. It's a sense, I think, of the tragedy of life, as well as its grandeur, its pathos of loss and pain in many countries amplified by knowledge of one's own time of grieving yet to come, but soon.
My attempt at an explanation, anyway.