Dear LPG,

As we get older, and after all the time we have spent alone more recently, I suspect that the people that you talk to most often have changed somewhat. 

Before all we pensioners became Covid-19 house-prisoners last year, there were likely to have been some you met and stopped for a quick chat with on the way to the shops, at a day centre, in the park while walking the dog or on the way to the post box although, in my case, I have found that many of my closer friends live further away, so I got used to using the telephone when talking to them long before it became a seriously important way of communication. 

We were encouraged to make calls and talk to each other and I know a lot of people who are thankful for all the ways we are able to do that these days, but I can remember a time when even that got to be a bit of a challenge.

Have you ever had one of those conversations where you were both trying to keep it going because the alternative would be more time sitting alone watching the television?  So many of those conversations start with a greeting and then an enquiry as to your state of health, but then what?

An American friend that I often have talked to during lock down afternoons would be very aware that her day is just beginning while mine is five hours older, so her enquiry would often be, ‘and how was your day’, rather than the very English, ‘…and how are you today?’, which got me thinking about my usual answer to either question which is typically, ‘Same as any other’, or ‘boring as ever’. 

It occurred to me that my response, which is one that I often also receive when asking the question, is such a negative one.  I recently saw a television program where the fact that, though it seems like a lot, according to the Bible we are likely to get 70 years of them to spend on this earth.  I am talking about days, and these days our stay is likely to be a bit longer, but that means that we are each only allotted about 25,550.  If you converted each one of those days into a GBP (British pound sterling), you would not even be able to buy a flat in London these days.

When I was younger I wished the weekdays away so that I could value the weekends and it is so easy to write them off as all the same.  But that television program brought home to me just how precious each and every one of them is and suggests that when we are asked that 2^nd question, whether on the phone or when we can get out and about again, we need to make sure we have an answer that makes each day just a little unique.  We seriously need to be taking advantage of each of the ones we are lucky enough to be part of, and we really need to appreciate them and use them to their best advantage.

There are so many new things out there to be tried or revisited, and while it has to be said that we all do so many of the same things nearly every day, we need to celebrate their differences; the dinner that was a little over done the other day or the one which looked and tasted better than we ever expected.  Whatever your state of health will allow you to do these days, routine or a new venture, perhaps we would do well to celebrate the distinctive outcomes which make each day unique and special.

OC, Lee