It is a moment of cautious and much-contested transition in our Covid saga. I don’t
mean the move from lockdown to a slightly more ‘nation as usual’ situation that’s being thrashed out
in parliament, but in my father, Robin Hanbury-Tenison, and his mode of transport from mobility
scooter to ‘yomping with confidence’. In the last ten days, he has shifted from merely surviving the
virus back towards thriving in his old youthful manner. It will still be some months before he
is the vigorous and inexhaustible octogenarian that we took for granted in February but every
day marks a small step forward in his journey back to health.
The shift from bed-bound, to scooter, to zimmer frame, to walking stick has been Lazarus-esque.