“Personally I’m a little too long in the tooth to get too worked up about what’s on my arm. The remark was made facetiously, more as a commentary on style than anything else. ”

Mrs. Wretchard read the comment and is asking deeply probing questions.

I wish. And some part of us wishes it was true. You leave first youth and then middle age like a traveler climbing out of a valley. When at length you reach the ridge you are tempted to look back once last time; to pause for a final glimpse as you strain to hear the chords that were once so familiar but are now so far away. But if you know what is good for you then you’ll adjust the pack which once so lightly rested on your shoulders and take the first step into whatever betides. And that first step brings with it liberty. Now you are on the road you knew you would always take. No more fears now. All you love lies where you left it, both behind and before.