The saddest discovery of middle age: I can get by without my old friends

A few years ago, I got the shock of my life when a girl I was sitting next to at a 21st birthday party asked me if I was a dad.

‘Are you asking if I have children?’ I said.

‘No, I’m asking if you’re the father of one of the guests.’

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Druin Burch

Lucy Letby and the killer nurse I worked with

I almost fell off my chair. Until that moment, I had no idea that young people see me as middle-aged. I was 45 at the time so it shouldn’t have come as a shock, but I like to think I’ve inherited my father’s youthful appearance. Indeed, until that moment I was still pitching travel editors with the ‘amusing’ idea of going on an 18-30 holiday and trying to pass as 29.

I’m now approaching my 50th birthday and it won’t be long before I’ll be flattered if people still think of me as middle-aged.