Going back to where it all began with old friends and new aches

Is the season for reunions. Gettogethers with folk from the past, often outdoors and hopefully in temperate weather. Apart from the alcoholic libations, a meal could be involved to aid and abet the conversation.

- with Joe Riley

And with advancing age, that exchange of personal news inevitably involves a catch-up on medical itineraries of one sort or another.

Some levity can be a bonus. For instance, when I was a member of my local Probus club - alas since disbanded for lack of numbers - we used to joke that the very title of our endeavours was an acronym for Prostate Repaired, Other Bits Under Surveillance.

There is another challenge with passing time: physical recognition. Greying hair or no hair; once slim bodies that have trebled or even quadrupled in dimension; horn rimmed spectacles adorning once rosy-cheeked youthful faces.

All can prove to be perceptive challenges that need to be overcome to the embarrassing possibility of blank stares of unknowingness, even during initial handshakes or embraces.

The one great saving grace is usually, but not always, that an individual's voice often remains completely identifiable with the passing of time.