per cruciate ad vires (through pain comes strength)

"Dad, you look like an old hermit who has been forced into civilisation", As my son (19) sees my mottled nordic-silver chest hair just showing through the top of my shirt. My daughter also comments, "No, Dad, never; and in Spanish - no!" I'm not into manscaping, but a trim was enforced. In this case, less was undoubtedly their goal. My wife's comment was, "grow old with grace!"

Which is what we need a lot of, Grace. We are at a stage of our lives we did not contemplate. Elderly parents who need a lot of looking after. One in a home with Parkinsons' dementia, one in our home with dementia and my dear mom, who has just broken her hip, is frail and vulnerable. Sleeping next to her on the lounge floor has been average! My brother Ed was close to death a few months ago from an aspirating incident.

It has been a lot, but we dig deep into that battered old suitcase and pull the remnant of courage from it every day, without exception.

Service before self, duty first.

Dominus, sicut satis, tunc domi. Lord, just enough, then home. In Zulu: Nkosi, sekwanele, manje-ke ekhaya.