Dear LPG,

I am one of the really lucky septuagenarians; I do not live alone.   When it was suggested by them, I made the decision to move in with my daughter and her husband after their children grew up and left their family home.  I am still able to do most things for myself and have a circle of friends who visit each other and some local day centres together. This means that my life is not completely intertwined with my children’s, which leaves them sufficient time to work on their changing life circumstances as they come to terms with the life effects that my son-in-law’s own recent retirement is having on their lives.  So my daughter has her agenda, her husband is adjusting to his new routine, they have their joint commitments and I am doing my own thing for the most part and although that sounds a bit confused, it works.

Though our new living arrangement comes with the odd teething problem, I feel that we have managed to strike the perfect balance between allowing them time for their relationship and me my independence.  It is really nice to have someone to share a chat with, share some meals with and I also have a reason to do the cooking every now and then.

They are young pensioners though, and take full advantages of all the electronic gadgets available to them, including their diaries, which are in their mobile phones, and as a result there are the odd times when appointments get missed. 

We recently missed a family party because my son forgot and double-booked himself while my daughter got the time wrong resulting in my attending another appointment alone.    I am lucky that they have decided to listen to one of my ‘old school’ suggestions and we have reinstated the old fashioned wall calendar, which again hangs on a significant wall, so that we can all see the times and dates of those events and appointments that will involve more than one of us. Sometimes a bit of paper and a pen are the ultimate solution!

SP, Lewisham