Young

“It was not that long ago now. Not that long ago at all.” Angie sighed and turned to stare out of the window as though she could see the past passing by out there. “But we were younger; so bloody young. I mean - look at kids these days. They are doing all the stuff that we used to. You just wish there were some way that you could show your kids, make them listen. Show them how you went through exactly the same sort of thing when you were their age.”

Jenny nodded, even though Angie was still looking away, out through the window. “The thing is, though, that it is at precisely this age when they begin to move away from their parents. It is the time when they begin to test their adult wings, displaying their brand-new adult plumage and getting ready to leave the nest. Just at the point when adult experience would be most useful, they stop listening. So they have to go out and make all the same mistakes that we made.”

“People only really learn by experience - and not always then.” Angie turned back as Jenny caught the hint of some regret in her sister’s voice. “Personal experience is what matters,” Angie continued. “Being told about it will not really help that much - not deep down where it matters.”