Iturned 40 recently and have found, in the aftermath, that my face is beginning to sag and my vision beginning to falter.

My kids shove something in my face, and I find myself making that universal movement of ageing parents the world over – a backwards lurching of the neck, a squint, a closer squint, a confirmation that whatever the hell I am being shown is indeed interesting (Reader, it never is).

I also now find myself feeling the elements in a way that I didn’t a few years ago. I’ve given up on being barefoot inside my house, and it is no longer enough to wear underwear and some top layer to work. These days I need insulation between shirt and underwear, and between skirt and stockings, in order to move about freely without complaining about the temperature.

With this deterioration

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