Monday, May 1

It's May 1, I've woken early so it's a good time for reflection. There's nothing organised for today, which is not unusual so I'll probably have a walk, read my book and try not to switch on the TV

My head is full of memories of my life to date. Coming from war-depressed Scotland to this South Pacific paradise was an enormous piece of luck. My childhood was idyllic, with long summer days and extraordinary freedom which today's kids could never imagine. Our generation has experienced some of the most exciting advances in recorded history.

I was born during the Second World War and have seen the advent of television, humans in space, computers, and so on. We bought our first house for the equivalent of two years' salary. We can fly to the other side of the world for less than the average weekly wage.

In our 51 years of marriage, we have had challenging careers, lived in interesting places, made a contribution to society, and made a difference. We've seen a good bit of the world and met very interesting people. We haven't amassed much wealth along the way, but that was never a priority in our master plan.

Now we have to deal with the challenge of building a life which has to accommodate changing health issues and fewer activities to fill our day. It seems our life could become a never-ending parade of doctor's appointments, Physio check-ups, specialist referrals, optometrists, podiatrists, dentists ....

Our attentive government adds to the excitement by sending out Bowel Scan Kits to help fill in the hours with the challenge of collecting and sending off a sample for someone to peruse. I don't know what level of positive returns is expected but the poor souls who draw the short straw are in for a round of GP appointments, hospital procedures and intense conversations with well-meaning medicos.

Another government program offers a Medication Review. Your friendly local pharmacist will come to your home to review your medication to ensure there are no conflicts. Is it not the responsibility of the GP to make sure he/she doesn't prescribe something which will kill you? It looks like just another way to keep the income levels of medical professionals at a reasonable level.

Another thing about retirement is that it gives you too much time to listen to people like our Treasurer waffling on about the money being spent on welfare being 'bad'. Oh, I know he can't talk in complicated economic terms but surely the people who bother to listen to him could be treated with a little more respect. We're not children who need one-syllable explanations. Of course, it may be that he doesn't understand the economic terms himself.

In short, after an exciting and event-filled life, the twilight years are something of a disappointment. Is this how the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper?