Where do they go?..

My daughter, so she tells me, spends much of her time in this rusty Jenga-meets-obelisk of a building, which houses lots of Leeds Met and its design-orientated students. I have just discovered that this Cor-Ten steel-clad construction cost £45m. I quite like it. Apparently the rust, contrary to my expectations and shoddy understanding of corrosion and oxidisation, makes the steel more durable because it provides a naturally built-up protective layer. I have no idea, really, what Danielle does in here, although a lot of it involves designing staircases. She does try and tell me. But I'd rather there be some level of vagueness on my part because I'd hate to know more than my next generation, who will, I believe, save the planet and mankind from destroying itself. With, in Danielle's case, the deft use of staircases. For me, it's impossible to equate the Danielle who makes regular appearances within this rusty structure with the little girl that used to sit on my shoulders, although the two of them still look very similar. This makes me feel both proud and, ridiculously, a little bit sad for myself, because I realise that, like the Cor-Ten steel, I've started to look very weathered on the outside and, unlike the Cor-Ten, on the inside too. I'm afraid my protective layer has failed rather dramatically.