13th September 2020

Age. As a child there was a memorable ad on every bus: a 20 year old man said They tell me the job isn’t pensionable, a 40 year old said I worry my job isn’t pensionable and a 60 year old said Now I’m 60 I don’t know what I’m going to do. Now I’m over 70, how transient life is. At 20 I’d think wow it’s taken me 20 years to get here. At 70 it’s taken 5 seconds. At 40, I’d look in the mirror and see my mother. At 70 I see my grandmother. Yesterday Diana Rigg died. In my mind I see her leather-clad but am shocked to see her 80 year old face. I think of my children as babies, mouths smeared in jam. Today, c.50 years later, where have they gone? Oh yes, they both live the other side of the Atlantic. After Covid, will I ever see them in the flesh again? Autumn is almost upon us, the young fresh leaves dying and falling to the ground. Life is cruel.