When I became 90 it seemed especially important to record my entry into my 10th decade. Often people my age describe themselves as old, and when they do I tell them, “No, you are older, that is very different!” The word “old” with its final ‘d’ sounds like a coffin door closing, signalling the end. Whereas the word “growing” suggests, health permitting, further growth. What excites me is that the journey continues right up to the last moment, for, as TS Eliot wrote, “Old men ought to be explorers… we must be still and still moving.” And, without a doubt, I am still exploring.
In my long life, I have known failure, despair, bleakness, lack of work, lack of money, betrayals and disappointments, and yet, at each impasse, by learning…
