That’s a fair question. You’re right about the crossplay part. Kids have consoles, which only support Bedrock. So if I want to play with them, then I need to play Bedrock too.

Which is a pity because, like yourself, I first played the Java edition too.

As an aside, I think Bedrock is the only version that supports VR. I don’t play VR Minecraft often, but sometimes it’s fun. Albeit only for about 15 minutes, then the motion sickness kicks in (curiously it’s the only VR game I’ve played that does give me motion sickness)