Of course I am losing my hair, but not that much that most people would notice. I don’t get Valentines any more not even from that anonymous person who used to send them every year though I do still get birthday greetings and … OK one glass of wine out of the bottle. But I don’t think we’ll rent a cottage on the Isle of Wight – we have our own Newport just up the road, Ryde is a short drive away if I really wanted to go sightseeing there and we can go sailing in Cowes or walk on the beach at St Helens in just a few hours south if we chose to!
So have we reached the Golden Age? What I can say is that, whatever the age, Richard is really enjoying it. He has taken to retirement life in Mona Vale like the ducks to our swimming pool water. He goes to the gym and swims every day. His rosy cheeks are now healthy rosy rather than morbidly rosy and it’s good to see him so relaxed and contented. He catches the bus and mostly walks to the shops and with his newly acquired shopping trolley has almost zero need for our one little car which I completely monopolise – mostly to get myself to my far-away aerobics class twice a week. Unlike Richard, I am still living with one foot in my old life.
Fortunately, our good friends will visit us here though it’s a hefty drive for most of them (for Ann and Graeme however - see right outside their new house in Waikanae, NZ - it's closer than when they lived in Perth). I am now one of the matinee set because I can get the bus – a one-hour ride - to within a short walk of the Opera House or the theatres. Sydney daily proves it’s a global city – not always in the best way as you will know from the recent Lindt café crisis. I am utterly delighted that the relatively anonymous young man and woman who were the tragic victims attracted more memorial bouquets than Princess Diana, thereby reinforcing that Australians care about each other more than about rank and royalty.
This year also saw the people’s Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, take his last breath and the grief of the Nation over a man who was acclaimed as both a pivotal reformist leader in Australia’s history and, to quote, lambasted as autocratic and profligate. Most famous for his one-liner “Well may we say God save the queen, because nothing will save the governor general”, he was only ever known to me as the man eating out at his fellow diners’ expense in the best restaurants in Sydney … which may well be the best yardstick of a hedonistic nation’s regard for greatness.
2014 - the year of the Winter Olympics in Russia, Ebola in Africa, two undeserved tragic disasters for Malaysian Airlines passengers, mass abduction of innocent schoolgirls, abdication of the king of Spain, ghastly Gaza Strip events, the devastating massacre in Peshawar and the anniversary of the start of WWI, proof that our learning about the human condition has been completely and devastatingly outstripped by our learning about new ways to torture, humiliate and desecrate. How are we to make sense of such a year or even hold out hope for the next?
In our family, December ends on a wonderful and hopeful note with the marriage on 13 December of Tammi (Donald’s older daughter) to a caring and easily likeable young man, Brent, from a loving and warm family who have welcomed their new “daughter” and her family with open arms. Just as important, was the birth of the first of the next generation for 93-year old Gwen, as Rhonda and
Duncan brought Olivia Imogen into the world in the Netherlands on 5 December. Of course she is the most beautiful baby ever and, thanks to Skype, I have already met her and fallen in love with her big dark eyes and mop of black hair. Sadly, she spent her first Christmas back in hospital being treated for severe lactose intolerance - let's hope that's all behind her now.
Our big move to the “far south of Queensland” as Richard describes it (he has always been prone to exaggeration), was probably more difficult than any of our international moves on both a logistical and emotional level. But who could not be happy to be living within 15 minutes’ walk of the ocean and one of Sydney’s most attractive waterways (Pittwater), within walking distance of all the shops you really need for everyday life and an excellent library plus bus stops to the city and other significant hubs within less than 10 minutes flat walk. With an outlook over a very attractive golf course that is home to many Australian native birds we have really found our retirement paradise, though it is fair to say we stumbled on it rather than cleverly engineering it.
So once again the festive season brings hope for new life and renewed belief in a future of love, peace and joy. And that is our wish for you – love, peace, joy and hope for 2015.
So have we reached the Golden Age? What I can say is that, whatever the age, Richard is really enjoying it. He has taken to retirement life in Mona Vale like the ducks to our swimming pool water. He goes to the gym and swims every day. His rosy cheeks are now healthy rosy rather than morbidly rosy and it’s good to see him so relaxed and contented. He catches the bus and mostly walks to the shops and with his newly acquired shopping trolley has almost zero need for our one little car which I completely monopolise – mostly to get myself to my far-away aerobics class twice a week. Unlike Richard, I am still living with one foot in my old life.
Fortunately, our good friends will visit us here though it’s a hefty drive for most of them (for Ann and Graeme however - see right outside their new house in Waikanae, NZ - it's closer than when they lived in Perth). I am now one of the matinee set because I can get the bus – a one-hour ride - to within a short walk of the Opera House or the theatres. Sydney daily proves it’s a global city – not always in the best way as you will know from the recent Lindt café crisis. I am utterly delighted that the relatively anonymous young man and woman who were the tragic victims attracted more memorial bouquets than Princess Diana, thereby reinforcing that Australians care about each other more than about rank and royalty. This year also saw the people’s Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, take his last breath and the grief of the Nation over a man who was acclaimed as both a pivotal reformist leader in Australia’s history and, to quote, lambasted as autocratic and profligate. Most famous for his one-liner “Well may we say God save the queen, because nothing will save the governor general”, he was only ever known to me as the man eating out at his fellow diners’ expense in the best restaurants in Sydney … which may well be the best yardstick of a hedonistic nation’s regard for greatness.
2014 - the year of the Winter Olympics in Russia, Ebola in Africa, two undeserved tragic disasters for Malaysian Airlines passengers, mass abduction of innocent schoolgirls, abdication of the king of Spain, ghastly Gaza Strip events, the devastating massacre in Peshawar and the anniversary of the start of WWI, proof that our learning about the human condition has been completely and devastatingly outstripped by our learning about new ways to torture, humiliate and desecrate. How are we to make sense of such a year or even hold out hope for the next?
In our family, December ends on a wonderful and hopeful note with the marriage on 13 December of Tammi (Donald’s older daughter) to a caring and easily likeable young man, Brent, from a loving and warm family who have welcomed their new “daughter” and her family with open arms. Just as important, was the birth of the first of the next generation for 93-year old Gwen, as Rhonda and
Our big move to the “far south of Queensland” as Richard describes it (he has always been prone to exaggeration), was probably more difficult than any of our international moves on both a logistical and emotional level. But who could not be happy to be living within 15 minutes’ walk of the ocean and one of Sydney’s most attractive waterways (Pittwater), within walking distance of all the shops you really need for everyday life and an excellent library plus bus stops to the city and other significant hubs within less than 10 minutes flat walk. With an outlook over a very attractive golf course that is home to many Australian native birds we have really found our retirement paradise, though it is fair to say we stumbled on it rather than cleverly engineering it.
So once again the festive season brings hope for new life and renewed belief in a future of love, peace and joy. And that is our wish for you – love, peace, joy and hope for 2015.
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