Yes but you must realize it can't work for everyone. Clearly you made some smart decisions that involved a lot of sacrifice to end up in this position, and I'm not denigrating that at all. But a) not everyone has the ability to make those sacrifices (child care, elder care, health emergencies, etc) and b) even following the same path as you did could lead to a different outcome. There is an element of luck that, again I'm not discounting your achievement, does factor into the outcome.

We need programming to be a real career. People shouldn't feel pushed out when they are in what in any other industry would be considered the prime of their career. This mentality is destructive not only for us but the economy as a whole.