My parents were very secretive about their ages. They never told me how old they were. Imagine my horror when sneaking through my Father’s private papers, I discovered him to be at least 15 years older than I thought him to be. He looked so much younger than his years.

Our children have always known their parent’s ages.

I am just months away from turning 80. At that age, both my parents had retired to a small country town, after having sold the family farm.

I too am retired but live in Darwin the capital city of the Northern Territory. It’s not as quiet by any stretch of the imagination, as it would have been for my parents and their retirement.

It kind of reminds me of the fact that there are four phases to life.

You get born.

You grow up.

You become old.

You go dead.

Like my parents, I spent quite a short time young and I am in the midst of a long time old.