Anthea Turn er How I See It...
Afriend of mine said this week, “Don’t you think it’s important as we get older to stay awake?”
She didn’t mean, “Of course I’m awake, it’s three in the afternoon”. She meant it in the broader sense of being awake to the world, inquisitive about everything from music to art, fashion, gossip, soaps, current affairs. I know nothing about opera but let’s go! Who’s Billie Eilish? I don’t know, but my granddaughter loves her so I’ll find out.
I have to be honest, since passing the 60 milestone I’ve become a tad more obsessed about age. This has taken the form of me observing women and rating them on my very own age-ometer desperately trying to crack why one person of, say, 75 appears younger than another.
My Miss Marple deductions (now she’s a lady!) have brought me to the conclusion it has less to do with the outer shell and more with being awake, which is what my My Weekly heroine Esther Rantzen definitely is. She might have celebrated her 80th birthday last June, but Esther radiates life. In essence she has nurtured a young spirit.
I first met her in the 1990s and over the years – through television events, Childline, the charity she founded and mutual friends – we saw quite a lot of each other. And when things went “Oops” in my personal life, I found myself scooped up by Esther for a Wilcox Sunday Lunch – the grand fixer for all life’s ills.
Always a noisy affair, to keep order the speaker had to be holding the pepper pot – and when you’d finished, pass it on to the next person eager to grab it and hold court.
Professionally Esther works on her instincts. They are pin-sharp and as she’s grown and developed, they have shape-shifted with her. But it’s her passion for righting wrongs and supporting the vulnerable that puts her on the highest pedestal. On its opening night Childline received a shocking 55,000 calls from children and adults needing help.
Silverline was her next charity, sadly prompted by her own loss. When Desmond died it was a body blow for Esther; he was central to her world, passionate about everything from family life to the exceptional documentaries he crafted. With a devilish twinkle, Desmond was her perfect match.
I’ve quoted many times what she said to me a few years after his death: “I can go out every night of the week, I can pack my diary solid – but what I really miss most of all is someone to do absolutely nothing with.”
When dating, those wise words were always with me, not realising how important they’d become in lockdown!
Thank you, Esther.
Love, Anthea X