Even today, much of the tabloid press would have you believe that Mrs Thatcher was a leader much loved by her party. Yet, it’s reported that she died in a hotel room without any of her family around, cared for by people who were being paid to do so. I would suggest that that isn’t a situation that most of us would choose for the end of our lives. At which point, the title of this blog becomes obvious as, probably, will my age.
You see, I’m at that stage where I do think more about what I’ll leave behind and, on that score, I still have much to do. After many years during which I was a little lost yet still managed to raise my first two children, I now live a more stable life; one in which there has been a level of achievement that I never expected. And you will note there, that I don’t write of a “sense” of achievement, although I can recognize that there has been some. Having recently passed the 28 year mark, I am now in a really meaningful relationship with Gaynor, whose companionship I very much value and enjoy, and have three children and grandchildren, now mostly now adult themselves and people who really matter to me. Much of this because I am more at ease with myself and, as a result, with others too. So, what, for me, has been the measure of that life?
Well, it is a realisation that it’s been much more fulfilling than I’d expected. One during which, nearer the end than the beginning, I’ve managed to realise some of my potential and in which the usual barriers of what I enjoy doing and do to earn a living hardly exist. Lastly, it’s one in which I feel valued. Now for the next stage!