A GOOD WEEKEND....

Fathers Day today. I could be my usual cynical self and grumble about yet another meaningless, commercially driven day in a seemingly endless calendar of trivial events, but I have to confess that I am always touched, grateful even, to be remembered on Fathers Day. And so it proved to be the case again today.

The problem is that they come around so quickly. I can`t believe another year has whizzed by but it has. Seems to me that time goes faster when you get older and start slowing down, which I guess is the inverse of Einstein`s discovery that the faster you go, the slower time passes.

And yesterday there was another reminder of time passing when we attended a family Golden Wedding Anniversary in honour of my wife`s cousin and his wife, with whom I spent my last night of freedom before my own nuptuals 47 years ago next month. Never mind a year passing quickly by, that`s nothing compared to the 50 years which yesterday`s happy couple have spent in wedded bliss. It was a good, old fashioned family occasion. Friends and family there, including the best man from all those years ago and a supply of embarrassing photographs to graphically remind us all who we used to be.

It got me thinking about friends and family. There`s an old saying, of course, that you can choose your friends, but not your family, so it`s good to report that when the family members of our generation meet up, as we did again yesterday, there is a feeling of real friendship. We enjoy each others` company and never once look upon these occasions as in any way a `duty.` Not every family can boast that feeling, so I guess we are among the fortunate ones.

So, all in all, a good weekend and now if you will forgive me, I`m off to tuck into my Fathers Day goodies, which once opened will, I am sure, pass on as quickly as time itself.