Hard for us to believe that our oldest son is now 55, that all our three children are now in their fifties. It doesn't seem all that long ago that we reached our half-century mark of existence ourselves, and how that felt. Not that we felt 'older', just that we marvelled we were fifty years of age, a half-century of experiences behind us, and our memory reached back effortlessly to recall the things we were exposed to when we were young and how different the world has since become.

He's on the second part of a two-week trip to Britain, on a travel grant given to a research project shared by our older son, an astronomical researcher and his partner in this project, a retired astrophysicist. London is where he celebrated as it were, the occasion of his 55th birthday, keeping contact with his wife back in Toronto through Skype. When we were still living as a young family in Toronto, at the age of nine he became interested in astronomy and his father would take him on Saturday mornings to meetings of the local branch of the Astronomical Society.

Our daughter was always oppositional, that was and remains her personality. She was 'different' than the common mould, someone who chafed at what passed for normal in society, wanting yet rebelling at being one with the common crowd. She distinguished herself when she was young by her mode of dress primarily. Partly exhibitionist, partly defiant. She was capable of applying herself to anything that took her interest and always excelled in any sphere of endeavour she became involved with. Her interactive social skills always put to the test.

Our youngest child was interested in biology as soon as he could deftly wield a delicate net. Whether it was to withdraw tiny fish from a lake in Gatineau, or a voracious waterbug from waters closer by where we lived, or fragile butterflies to acquire an inventory of various types, a practise he found repugnant, but which drew him as a budding biologist, his stream of study and employment was also set at an early time in his life.

We consider ourselves fortunate that all three are busy doing what appears to come naturally to them, deriving what satisfaction in life that they can and will from their occupations. It's all a parent could conceivably wish for, that their children find a place for themselves in the constantly developing stream of life and through that derive some measure of contentment with what they are able to achieve.