Possible Clues:

• Certain tense
• Tense dad, holy person without blemish
• Tense old man worries about swallowing first of pills before therapy
• Tense, having previously done no wrong?
• No skeletons in the cupboard had rattled, for example?
• Extreme view about the good old days makes one tense
• In days gone by, it's ideal to be tense
• Tense gone by cannot be improved upon
• Tense situation that couldn't have been improved upon?
• Tersely stated nostalgic illusion that makes one tense