Lange delighted to take a trip back to most exciting time of his life

Former Prime Minister David Lange is "feeling good today. I'm feeling quite optimistic about life".

But in preparation for last night's 20th anniversary celebration of the 1984 Labour Government's election, he stayed in bed all day gathering his energy.

The nearly 63-year-old, who led a Government that radically changed life in this country, has just had a pacemaker put in. Amyloidosis, a rare and incurable plasma disorder that causes excess protein from bone marrow to build up, continues to ravage his body.

A night out - a dinner at Auckland's Carlton Hotel reuniting the class of 1984 - is a big effort.

Much thinner and more frail than we have known him, Lange walks carefully and with a slight limp.

He stops to chat and is open about his condition, saying "it affects every organ except the brain".

That part of him, we can report, is as sharp as ever. As Lange meets and greets people he hasn't seen for years, his warm good humour and wit is in abundant evidence. Everything just moves a bit slower than it used to.

Next week, he undergoes the preliminaries for kidney dialysis. As he moves through the crowd, toting an orange juice, there are lots of unspokens hanging in the air: will this be the last time we see him?

People greet Lange in a gentle, almost reverent way, perhaps unsure of the strength his bullied body holds.

There are lots of "What are you doing now?" conversations; despite the rifts that plagued this club of politicians, the atmosphere is warm and celebratory.

The roll-call: Clark, Hunt, Wild, Goff, Tizard, Keall, Shirley ...

Meeting Sir Roger Douglas, Lange is relaxed; the media, aware how recently the pair's 16-year rift was healed, crowd in to capture the moment.

Longtime mates Lange and Douglas fell out spectacularly over the fourth Labour Government's direction after the 1987 election as a tide of free-market reforms, pushed by Douglas as Finance Minister, became something of a deluge.

Lange effectively sacked Douglas from the finance portfolio in December 1988. When caucus re-elected Douglas, Lange quit.

That conciliatory pint was a long time coming but on this night, the ugly moments are forgotten.

"These are the people who gave me the time of my life," says Lange. "Nothing prepared me for it, and nothing has matched it for excitement." And it seems he is cherishing every moment he has.

"I'm simply relishing being older," he says. "It's weird - it's something I would have found inconvenient a few years ago. I think you change your view of life according to the circumstances ... "

People have started to fear that every public appearance or media interview by Lange could be his last. In fact, says Lange, although he has been out twice this year - "February 27 and last Thursday" - he's due to make public appearances with fellow raconteur Gary McCormick next week at Orewa and Weymouth.

These, you understand, are fun outings, not work.

Still, the anniversary dinner feels something like a swansong.

Lange looks me in the eye and says: "It won't be repeated."

There's a pause, that unspoken again hanging in the air: "I'm composed about that."