belgianwaffle

Here I am, nearly 45, and still alive


Posted in: Family

That line comes from something. Can I find it in the richness of the internet? I can not. I thought it was from “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” but it’s not. I offer you:

I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

So, tomorrow, I will be 45.

This is what it is like to be 45.

1. I can feel a draft. I am constantly saying, “Close the door!”
2. I really wanted an airtight biscuit tin for Christmas. Nothing says Christmas like an airtight biscuit tin.
3. I bought a new winter coat from Windsmoor.
4. I rely on my children to make me aware of the latest internet viral video. In fact, are there videos any more?
5. I love to stay in with a book or the internet. In Chesterton’s short story “The Strange Crime of John Boulnois”, John Boulnois says “.. sitting in that chair with that story I was as happy as a schoolboy on a half-holiday. It was security, eternity–I can’t convey it… the cigars were within reach…the matches were within reach… the Thumb had four more appearances to…it was not only a peace, but a plenitude.” I am not a cigar smoker but I know what he means. Incidentally, to my knowledge we have three copies of the Fr Brown short stories in the house. Could I find one? No but the internet provided.
6. I love being on my own.
7. I love BBC radio 4, I really do. Not as much as my father who has, for as long as I can remember, had it on all night – very loudly – on his bedside table, but a lot. Even stupid old “Money Box Live” and “You and Yours”.
8. I find music in pubs VERY loud.
9. When I see teenagers, I frequently find myself thinking variants of what is that child wearing/she’s a lovely looking child, if only she would wear some nice clothes/is that the fashion, I wonder.
10. My parents are old and, alas, ill. I love my siblings and enjoy spending time with them. Even my extremely annoying brother.
11. I find a basket on my bicycle really handy. What is the point of dropped handlebars? Cycling makes me feel slightly smug.
12. I am not always sure what day of the week it is offhand. Or what age I am. I can usually make a good guess.
13. My children have reached the age where they can largely entertain themselves but they still love me.
14. I like to go hill walking with my husband.
15. I feel stretched in all directions; work is busy; home is busy; my parents are old and live 250kms away. In the evenings, there is always a pile of domestic administration awaiting my attention.
16. I like home improvement shows on the television. You wondered where the audience was for those programmes; your hunt is over.
17. I generally only see my friends at my bookclubs and at lunch.
18. I book my holidays 6 months in advance.
19. I like classical music in the background as I eat my breakfast and read the paper.
20. I like to do things in the garden.

You may wish me happy birthday.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Happy birthday! I identify with almost all of these. . .the notable exceptions being that i am not a cyclist and i am not a gardener. Not for lack of interest, i’d love to take up cycling. . .and i keep hoping that age will automatically turn me into a gardener, but no luck yet. I love to be outside, and i love gardens, i just have no interest in doing it myself. Anyway, i hope your birthday is a very happy one!

  7. Happy Birthday indeed!

    I share the hillwalking and gardening bug, I think they get stronger with age…

  8. Happy Birthday!
    And just out of interest … did you get the biscuit tin?? Interested parties would like to know.

  9. Many thanks to one and all for the good wishes. And, yes, I did get the biscuit tin but another would be most welcome. Christmas will be with us in no time etc.

  10. Happy Birthday. I’m traveling a lot for next few weeks, but will buy you a Birthday lunch in april, if that’s not too late? It was lovely to bump into the rest of the Waffles in the Museum Building during MidTerm break. S

  12. Happy Birthday. I can relate to at least ten of those and I am only 28 – I will leave you to guess which ones!

  14. It is not. Reassuringly. And the lack of offspring also make a few of them irrelevant. Drafts and biscuit tins though, I am completely with you on those.

  15. This’ll be me in a week… apart from the child thing, already ticking all those boxes. Is your airtight biscuit tin also ant-proof?

  16. Katie, maybe drafts and biscuit tins are universal?

    Disgruntled, yes, also ant proof, of course. Saw the first ant of the season sauntering through the kitchen yesterday. The horror.