I went to a dinner party last night and the conversation was lovely: light and glancing and eclectic . Couple of thoughts: one friend said she knew an 82-year-old woman who used "cool" as a favourite epithet . She thought that was neat. Better than "super" I agreed.

I commented on my friend's healthy appetite . She's a vegetarian and piles her plate with health. When her plate was taken away I noted that she had eaten the design off the (blank) plate. Another dinner partner commented on that old joke, so old that it's new again. (like me)

That got me to thinking. We're careful to change our hair style and to buy new clothes and read current books and do all those things that advertise how hip we are. Au courant, as they say. But language and old jokes and expressions can give you away if you're not careful, that is, if you don't want to be given away. ( I wouldn't mind being auctioned off.)

Of course, I'm going to give you a couple of examples. I used to invoke a Certs ad when meeting someone I hadn't seen for years. The memory of the former, young face has to blend in with the contemporary, older face confronting one. I think that's why people say "You haven't changed a bit" as they absorb the two images, past and present, into one. I used to describe this process as "Two, two, two Certs in one" as per an old commercial. but that commercial is no longer seen so people don't know what I am talking about. So I have resorted to, "You haven't changed a bit."

When chlorophyll was first discovered, not discovered, but when it came to the attention of the general public, products containing chlorophyll were recommended for erasing bad breath. I used to refer people to goats: "Just think what the goat would smell like if it didn't eat chlorophyll." No one knows what I'm talking about now. So I use the method of analogy to apologize for my excess weight (not excessive, but there). I say, "Just think what I'd look like if I didn't attend Weight Watchers."

You had to be there.

The thing is, I've been there, for so long.

Usually Friday belongs to my challenged son but yesterday he and I were both busy and so today we have a number of errands to do together. I have trouble sometimes keeping up with his needs as well as mine and I am so grateful to his counsellor. Matt is under the care of Community Living and Bonnie is his counsellor/ombudsman/friend and - like me - nag. We both scrutinize his shirt collars and advise spray before he washes. Note that he does his own laundry. She used to be the counter-signator on his essential cheques (rent, food and services). Now she has signed off and he has full control of his checking and is doing very well. He is supposed to do all his own shopping and he has bought his own pyjamas and underwear but I went with him a couple of weeks ago to get new shoes (I needed some, too) and helped him find a bargain but he did the choosing and of course the fitting. He gave me wine for my birthday, two excellent bottles (not too expensive) purchased on his own with advice from the LCBO clerk. Today we are going to find him a cell phone, as simple as possible, no camera or apps or fancy stuff, but a life-line for safety's sake, and we'll make sure that the keys are big enough for his hand-eye co-ordination to handle. That's important.

You take most things in your day-to-day living for granted until you have someone special in your life who doesn't find things easy or automatic and who doesn't simply learn by osmosis the way most of us do. Years ago when he was in a special school I asked him what he learned that day and he said squares and triangles and things and I was surprised because I taught him all that before he started school. But I misunderstood. He was learning the symbols on clothes labels that provide washing guides.

But no one taught him his easy sense of humour. Maybe he gets it from his father.