I don't like it when character age is brought up as some kind of roleplay quality quantifier. I've kept characters of my own more or less on ice for over a decade now as well -- one of which is actually linked to in the broadcast from the OP. Hi Mum, I'm in the Discovery GC comms channel! -- but the length of time a character has existed for shouldn't lend them any extra gravitas.
In fact, I'd go as far as to say the older your character gets (past a certain point), the worse off they are from a believability and immersiveness standpoint. They kind of have a shelf life.