Earlier this year I became 70.  Equal to the life term specified in the Bible this is no longer considered to be what we should expect as all manner of medical, lifestyle and diet improvements have resulted in a substantial extension in the average time the majority of those of us fortunate to live in the First World can hope to inhabit the Earth. The fact that this happy outcome cannot be assumed by many of our fellow inhabitants dealing with the less favourable living conditions in the many countries in the Third World grouping has minimum impact on our determination to extend our own lives to the maximum.

In the words of the old joke “the only individuals desperate to turn 80 are the 79-year olds” (insert your own preferred numbers).

Am I desperate to turn 71, and thereafter a further additional year? Having done so for a number of more years when will I be satisfied that I have lived to an optimum age?

I was recently reminded of an observation by a character in American novelist Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel ‘Gilead’, one Reverend Ames – “It is worth living long enough to outlast whatever sense of grievance you may acquire.”  As Peggy Lee might have sung in response “is that all there is?” (here).

I have acquired several grievances over my 70 years.  Some I believe will never be outlived.  They have had too great an impact on what I had hoped to achieve and on the lives of those that are of the utmost importance to me.  I have also been incredibly lucky, particularly in having the love of my family.  So in contemplating how many additional years I might wish for I would ask that the following be the determinants –

• That my wife outlive me.  This is entirely selfish, reflecting the fact that I could not bear the pain of witnessing her death.
• That my two children also outlive me for a similar reason, but also because they are outstanding human beings that have much to offer and should be allowed to do so.
• That I live to witness my grandchildren (currently aged 1-10) blossom.
• That I do not live into dementia.
• Finally, that I live to see Australia accept the burden of maturity and enthusiastically choose to become a republic.