We live in a neighbourhood where immortality is not taken for granted. This was verified in the last few days with the death of a close neighbour. The funeral is on Monday. I am not a great funeral attender for the simple reason that I prefer to remember the living memory, not the eulogy or the obituary.

If I am able to go I will, out of respect for someone whose life was that of a soldier, proud to the last to have served and fought for his king and country. He survived to a good age, unlike many of his schoolfellows who fell so that we may make the fools of ourselves and our democracy that they laid down their lives for. But age doesn't matter. It is what you do that counts, hero or coward, saint or sinner, rich man or poor man; from star to star we go and there isn't a great deal we can do about it.