Finality by Angela Caldin
I’ll always remember the Christmas of 2022 because, a few days before, a friend of mine died and I felt her loss deeply. She died unexpectedly away from home, so there was no opportunity to say goodbye or to tell her what a good friend she had been. Suddenly she was gone, leaving a vast hole in my life. She had lived all her life in Auckland and took great pleasure in introducing us to lovely places. She took us to the Pah Homestead, an imposing old building now housing an art… Read More
Growing old by Angela Caldin
Talented man Headlining at Glastonbury at aged 80 seems an unlikely achievement, but not if you are Paul McCartney. This man has been part of my life since the Beatles burst on the scene when I was a teenager. Last week, he occupied the Pyramid Stage for more than two hours with a gig described by the Guardian as phenomenal. In a dark waistcoat and a simple white shirt, he looked great: no paunch, no stoop, no concessions at all to what is undeniably an advanced age. How does he do it?… Read More
Way to go! By Trevor Plumbly
I know I bang on about it a bit, but this age thing is starting to get to me. Lots of old fogies tranquilise themselves with verbal crap like ‘You’re only as old as you feel’ in an attempt to ignore the inevitable. Apart from a few odd-bods, for most of us ‘dead is dead’ and I’m OK with that; what’s fascinating to me is how it gets handled these days as opposed to the ‘gently drawn sable curtain’ approach. Dying was a big deal in Victorian times: regardless of your achievements… Read More
Trevor’s latest brainwave: individual thoughts on ageing
From time to time, Trevor likes us to pool our thoughts on a topic of interest. This time, he has chosen the topic of ageing, relevant to all of us, but most particularly to those of us nearer the end than the beginning. Trevor Plumbly 75 Ageing is a polite way of describing the fact that you’ve reached a stage in life when very few people seem older than you. To counter this and avoid depression it’s best to reflect rather than anticipate. I find that if you avoid reality, it makes… Read More
Death – Coming Soon (but hopefully not too soon) by Emily Smart
I’m not usually maudlin, preferring a good giggle to being morose any day of the week. However, death has been on my mind a lot lately. Not my own; I am of course immortal, just ask my doctor about my high cholesterol! It appears I am surrounded by it, and apparently I’m at ‘that age’ where people I know are popping their clogs left, right and centre. I wouldn’t want anyone to think I’m being flippant about death, it’s not actually a funny thing, but there’s no point in having an ostrich… Read More
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