The question
What worries you about getting older?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A newer fixed question in The Guardian's rotating Q&A pool.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
So far, getting older has made almost everything better.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗
Not being able to run.
Losing the ability to get about.
Being alone and other people getting busier with families and life.
Am I enjoying it too much to find out?
My Auntie Jane. She took me in, aged 10, and, after my mother died, healed my broken heart by filling our dining room with food and people. Still cooking at the grand old age of 89. My icon.
The early days of motherhood. We lived in a sweet little bungalow in LA that had a pool. We threw lots of parties. We had a cute dog and a mad Siamese. Trump had never been president, we’d never heard of coronavirus, Claire’s Accessories was still going strong. Good times.
When I ruin someone else’s story because I think mine is better, so butt in before they’ve finished theirs.
A drunk woman who threw epic dinner parties.
Clothes moths (and the imminent threat of world war three).
Perimenopausal anxiety, the terrible feeling of impending doom, something awful happening to my children, writing deadlines. Apart from that, I’m quite chilled.
Nuala McGovern, Kate Humble, Jon Sopel, Mark Steel, Esther Rantzen, Maurice Sendak
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