I like to think of myself as a happy person, and the vast majority of people I know would hopefully agree. I laugh a lot, admittedly at silly things because I have what my husband long-identified as a “quirky” sense of humour, and I have a stack of favourite jokes....

Since my childhood I had someone who constantly whispering in my ear, saying that what I was doing was not worth a bit. Everyone hears a similar voice in their worst moments, but in my case the voice was perennial. In my golden years, that voice made me jump like a...