CONCLUDES HIS TIME AS A COCOONER

Funny how it was the little things that you missed the most.

It wasn’t the prospect of a Caribbean cruise that the financial comfort of retirement allows.

Nor was it regular indulgence of a day out in Dublin, topped off with a meal and a show.

It was much more mundane than that.

It was the routine, like the ritual that somehow became a part of everyday life like the morning coffee in the Jockeys, joyfully interrupted by the good natured banter with Damien, or the latest gossip brought by the steady flow of friends.

When the day needed to be stretched, and the weather permitted, a stroll into town always meant a meeting with someone who had the latest rumour from Oriel Park.

These ordinary, glorious everyday rhythms of life, that in pre- COVID days felt, at times like a monotonous burden for us over 70’s, now, in post COVID lockdown, take on the exhilaration of a child’s Christmas morning.

Hidden, ignored, condemned to the memory bank is the fear that invaded our lives and never left our thoughts for the last three months.

The constant drumbeat of statistics and experts telling us we were in the most vulnerable age bracket almost wrecked our mental well being. Now we’re ready to live a little. Of course we still have to be careful as Dr. Tony - and now in unison with our new Taoiseach, Micheal who has been handed over the baton by Leo- will remind us every day.

We’ll wear the masks when we’re out, and sit apart in churches and restaurants.

We’ll queue outside the butchers, sign up to the lengthy waiting list to visit the hairdresser or barber.

We’ll even observe the street direction signs, although most others ignore them.

We’ll never complain about the length or content of the sermon at Sunday Mass, having feared for months that the next outing dressed in the Sunday best would be one we didn’t want to think about.

IT’S BEEN A PLEASURE TO SHARE THE THOUGHTS OF THE OVER 70’S WITH EVERYONE IN RECENT WEEKS, AND THE EXPRESSIONS OF KINDNESS AND SUPPORT WERE APPRECIATED