Life

Marie Louise McConville: I've been to have my eyes checked - and now I feel old

Feeling old following a visit to the optician
Feeling old following a visit to the optician Feeling old following a visit to the optician

It's hard to believe we've been in lockdown on and off for almost a year now.

I don't know about anyone else but I have completely lost all concept of time.

Days, weeks and months have all just blended into one another and then you find certain things you thought happened two months ago actually happened a year-and-a-half ago and that's when you find yourself totally lost.

I find it hard to believe I am now in my forties.

It only feels like yesterday I opened my front door to find a big silver star balloon from my parents with 30 written on it with a photo of me in my Brigins uniform.

When I turned 40, I think I was so lost in the surprise holiday to New York that Darren had organised that I never really thought about my age.

And I'll be honest, I still don't really think about it at all.

I still feel like my best years are in front of me and the world is my oyster.

Of course, life can find ways of reminding us that we are not as young as we used to be.

Like an annual check-up at the opticians which can send you spiralling into the dark unknown, frantically searching for all the years that have gone by.

Don't get me wrong, the optometrist is a lovely lady and I felt great when she found all was well with my eyes and my prescription had barely changed.

It was towards the end of the appointment that things took a turn.

I could see she was choosing her words wisely but none of that mattered when she mentioned I needed a pair of reading glasses "due to your age".

Suddenly I had vision of myself in a rocking chair with a blanket over my legs, my hair back in a bun and a pair of reading glasses on a chain around my neck.

In that moment, I felt old and tired and sad.

So, I chose a pair of reading glasses, which the optician insisted on calling `computer glasses' in a bid to make me feel better once she saw my reaction.

Of course, at the till, it didn't help when the man asked if I wanted a chain for the glasses - apparently, my face answered that question.

Since then, I have done nothing but think about getting old and all the things I may be too old to do now, places I may never visit and missed opportunities.

Why does life have to go by so quickly?

I just feel so robbed of the last year.

I mean it did happen but we didn't get an opportunity to do anything and so, these past 12 months just floated away, unused.

I really need to start living again and soon.

Until then, I guess there's nothing else for it, cocoa at nine and lights out by 9.10pm - well, I might as well start practising.

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It was nice to see TV presenter Caroline Flack being remembered this week on the first anniversary of her death.

The 40-year-old, who had formerly presented Love Island, took her own life at her home in north London on February 15 last year.

Famous faces including Iain Stirling, Laura Whitmore and Pixie Lott were among those who remembered the star with tributes.

There were also calls for anyone feeling in distress to open up and seek help.

Author and presenter, Dawn O'Porter added: "You are actually surrounded by a lot of people who have felt it too.

"If you dare to open up it does help."

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It's hard to know whether it's good news or not but L Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz is to get another film adaptation.

The news comes more than eight decades after the first film, The Wizard Of Oz, starring Judy Garland, was released.

I can't say I was a fan of the 1939 movie, which was loved by many.

I found The Lion, The Tin Man and the Scarecrow a bit creepy and I hated the flying monkeys and the journey to Oz seemed to go on forever.

Now, almost a century on from the original, it's been revealed that director Nicole Kassell is to be at the helm of a new adaptation.

New Line Cinema have also hinted that the original ruby slippers will be incorporated in the new version.

Speaking about the project, Nicole said she is "exhilarated and humbled by the responsibility of re-imagining such a legendary tale.

"These are profoundly iconic shoes to fill, and I am eager to dance alongside these heroes of my childhood as we pave a newly minted yellow brick road."

I'm not sure I'm on board with this.

I might not have liked the first one but even I know that no-one will be able to fill Judy's glamorous shoes - no matter who they are.

**Competitions will return in the coming weeks