Dear LPG, 

Just sitting and chatting over a cup of something, has to be one of the very special things that it is good to be able to do again, and being able to invite a few friends around for coffee every now and then is a pleasure that I appreciate all the more just because it is safe to do so now.  

There were four of us around my kitchen table one morning not so long ago.  I invited three friends, and we all have the distinction of having retired within a couple of years of each other some ten years ago.  I never cease to be surprised at the topics that seem to come to the fore.

After we skimmed the politics of the day, our chat took us to that old staple for people in their mid-seventies, reminiscence.  We started talking about how we each viewed impending retirement before it happened.   I wonder if any of our readers remember how they envisaged retirement as they approached it.  With a 50% split in outlook, we came up with one of two attitudes that seem to hit home.

The first thing that came to the minds of all four of us were thoughts of freedom to do what we wanted with each day, but while half of us agreed that it would be good not to feel overworked and forced to drag ourselves to the bus or train, in what we now see as the early hours of each weekday morning, the other two looked forward to the freedom not to have to do that with a bit of regret.

We agreed that ten years on, we had all adjusted reasonably successfully, but that retirement and lockdown had left all four of us seventy-something-year-olds taking a lot more time to do anything these days.  We could all agree that, when you get to your fifties and our bodies begin to hint at what is to come, we become more aware of the aches and pains of the older people around us but, until it kicks in and personal experience takes over, nobody is really prepared.

Then we moved on to the recognition that the reality of learning that you are just not able to do things as quickly as you used to can bring frustration with it.  This was one thing that we were 100% in agreement on, but at least we have the time to adjust and, when you throw in the fact that, even though so many of us find ourselves with just as much to do however old we seem to get, it is important to have something to do with your life.  The best thing about it is that our income is less likely to depend on how quickly we manage to do what we do anymore, so there is really not as much of a need to rush around.

The friends around my coffee table agreed that we need to be thankful for what we have and what we can still do.

The one thing that is most important in my opinion, whether you find yourself one of the ingredients of a group of ladies, coffee, and someone’s kitchen table; men, a pint, and the pub; or somewhere in between, is to acknowledge that some meaningful chat is nearly always the consequence and there is value in sharing it.

WS, Peckham

LPG adds some information on today’s celebration… 

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