Pottering On to the Next Stage of Life

By -

 




It’s amazing how stealthily new stages of life creep up on us. Just a few years ago I considered myself to still be a middle-aged father, with much of my life still ahead of me. Now I find myself a grandfather to three, with a fourth on the way. Having downsized from the family home of the last thirty five years, we are living in a rental in a pleasant village, watching our children ascending the property ladder in order to house their burgeoning broods.

The flow of work hasn’t changed all that much, Zoom and Skype having replaced exhausting hours in airports and hotels, thanks to the current plague, but much of the pressure of the previous forty years seems to have floated away. I still don’t have as much time to read or daydream as I would like, but I dare say that comes with the next stage.

Watching my mother-in-law lose her grasp on reality is a sobering reminder of what might lie ahead. Although it is sad for the rest of us to watch her slow decline, she seems remarkably cheerful amidst her confusions, hallucinations and fantasies, enjoying the lions, tigers and long-dead relatives that she now sees around her. As with the earlier stages of life, much of this seems to come down to luck. So, fingers crossed, we potter on.  

 

Comments

Kirsten Bett said…
I agree, time goes by without you noticing it too much. On Wednesday I am turning 59, and when I look in the mirror I sometimes think: who are you? :) We too have downsized and have a more balanced life. There is so much to be grateful for, being healthy seems a gift indeed.
27 June 2021 at 07:20
Cecilia Peartree said…
Yes - I feel particularly bad about the last year or more, as my grandson has gone from baby to toddler almost to pre-schooler without my having the chance to see him quite as often as I might otherwise have done, although he now seems to have learned how to call me on video so that I sometimes see his face popping up on my phone unexpectedly, so that's a plus.
30 June 2021 at 12:41
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