Birthdays are odd things. Everybody has a unique approach to them and it varies as you grow older. I see little children coming into the library proudly displaying their “I am Four” pin badges or carrying helium balloons with their age on them but at some point people become more secretive about their age. My dad always says it’s rude to ask a lady how old she is and I never understood when I was younger why that only applied to women and not to men.

Now I have a better idea. Kitty and Mary speak openly about how invisible they felt as they got older and how ageist they think our society has become. Of course Kitty and Mary are far from invisible. Particularly when Kitty wears that outlandish woollen ski hat she bought in Iceland. I’m sure she stops traffic in that.

Li...

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