We recently sat down at a birthday party. Half of the guests had already been retired for a few years. The group was cheerful; we toasted and wished the birthday boy or girl good luck and, above all, good health.

But I smiled again. The guests knew each other, they had always met at the birthday boy's house. The questions "How are you?" or "Bisch zwäg?" were logical. Then it started: they talked about knee, back and shoulder pain, cataract operations and physiotherapy. Good advice flew back and forth, eager nods to everything - you were "there", you knew the situations and knew about that doctor, that hospital and the great osteopath.

At some point, one of the "boys" clicked in, providing a pleasant interruption to the health talk and diverting our thoughts to other interesting topics.

I know that Gerhard Uhlenbruck, the German immunobiologist and aphorist, once said "Even iron health will one day belong to the old iron". Health is almost the most important thing about getting older. And yet I think that active senior citizens who engage with their surroundings, who take part in seniors@work, for example, have no time for self-pity or aches and pains, or are better able to tolerate certain limitations thanks to their activity.

How do you feel about this? Can you understand my train of thought?

Beatrice