I AM quite surprised, amazed even, at the very many times when in conversation, people start their sentence with 'Do you remember when...’ I hear it so often that I am beginning to think that it is an age thing, and it made me wonder.

Could it be that there is a time, or some stage in life, when some folk, not all of them I hasten to add, begin to think that the best times were those of long ago and that all the exciting things were in the past, are all over and done with?

Well, if some folk are thinking that is the case, they are not only being very foolish, but they are also robbing themselves of that greatest of feelings, which is ‘Come, friend, link your arm in mine, does’t not know the best is yet to be’.

Age, and how people view age, has changed quite dramatically and now, thank heavens, is no longer the big barrier to many of life’s pleasures.

Older people can dress, act, and do whatever they have always done, or now want to do, with very few restrictions.

So what if you're not going dancing on a Saturday night, you are not getting dressed up to see what's out there on offer — but you’re putting your slippers on, with a biscuit and a cuppa in hand, and switching the TV on, to watch your favourite programmes?

We can enjoy these evenings just as much, because as they say, every age has its compensations. Oh yes, I know, that is a bit of a cliché, but it's a very true one nevertheless.

One of life’s continuing comforts is the fact your friends and acquaintances are growing older along with you, and that their tastes, thoughts and memories are usually in tune with yours.

I was over seeing my friends Edith and Richard in Clitheroe for dinner on Saturday evening, spent with lovely people, in a lovely place, and the icing on the cake, was lovely food.

Can you ask for anything more, except perhaps a little in a bag to take home?