You Know You're Old When...

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There have been various times in my life when I've suddenly realised from an awareness of others around me that I have, shall we say, grown up a little more. 

The first occasion was probably the day I started school, being met, along with my contemporaries, by mothers pushing prams and pushchairs with siblings too small to be embarking on the big adventure. Later, as we progressed to secondary education, I recall marvelling at not only how cute the little children heading to primary school were, but also how much younger they seemed in comparison to my own peer group.

Rushing through adulthood, the years move on apace and there definitely comes a day when you realise that yes, policemen do look very young. In my profession and approaching retirement, the same could be said for barristers. 

Once retired, I have been less conscious of the differences, cocooned as I am in my own little tribe of seniors. That began to change a few years ago when some of those around me, started to creak and were swiftly healed with artificial hip and knee joints. 

Two weeks ago, Mister E himself succumbed to the surgeon's knife. Since then, and with some pain and considerable frustration, he has been hobbling around our home. Part human, part bionic- we have discussed whether, during the mass extinction of the human race at the hands of AI robots, his hybrid status will spare him. 

On my part, exhausted by the strain of caring for someone in recuperation, I can assure you that you really do know you are advancing in years when your husband has a hip replacement! 

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

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