Being made to negotiate boredom fostered invention and creativity while instilling in us Gen-Xers that life doesn’t always go ...

And scores of my illegible scrawls on aerograms mailed to my mother when she was on a holiday during my sweltering summer holidays, whining about boredom and unfinished school projects.

My mum Judy has brown eyes. Her parents both had blue. For more than 60 years that little detail has bothered her.

Was the “pen friend” Nana wrote to in America on those blue aerograms actually Bernie? Was stress the reason she took Valium? As a journalist, I’m practised at uncovering secrets but it’s ...