A~Z #6 (F)

F is for FRIENDSHIP (n. friendly feeling or disposition)

PROLOGUE:  Having been brought up as an only child and living on a farm for almost the first six years of my life and not having an extended family I am by nature quite a solitary person.  We also moved 9 times from when I was 6 to 20 (when dad and mum built their own home) so I really never had time to become close friends with children in the neighbourhoods where we lived.  I had friends at both schools but none of us lived close to each other and during the war years we didn't travel a great deal between suburbs.  Unfortunately when I left school at 15 I lost touch with everyone I'd been to school except for one girl (Judy).

In my teens my friends were Wilma, June, Val, Gaynor and Judy.  I lost touch with Gaynor after a few years but remained friends with the other 4 girls.  Wilma, June and I often went dancing together and stayed at each other's homes occasionally.  Judy and I lived quite close and saw each other quite a lot and sometimes went to football matches together and we both belonged to the Young Libs.  I was her bridesmaid when she married in 1950 and godmother to her only daughter. 

Val was my matron of honour and Wilma my bridesmaid when I married in 1953 and for some reason I had lost touch with June while I was away in Melbourne working in 1950-51.  We did however meet up again in 1987 when  realised it was 40 years since I began working in the office with June, Wilma and Val and I called them up and we met for lunch in a restaurant in Kings Park.  We had a most enjoyable few hours and then met at each other's homes a few times over the next year or two.

Wilma (1989), Val (1998) and Judy (2009) have now all left this mortal coil and I miss them all so very much.  June and her husband live about 50km from our home so it is birthday and Christmas cards now and a very occasional 'phone call.

After my marriage I became great friends with Del (her real name was Dolores) but after my separation from my first husband we lived some distance apart so again it was mainly cards for birthdays and Christmas and just a very occasional visit or 'phone call.  I was sad to learn that Del had died in 2003 after a long illness.

I had 3 friends that I worked with at the Forests Department....Lois, Val and Ellen....and we kept in touch and met for lunch about 3-4 times a year but Ellen (2007) has now left us and Lois lives a distance away so no more lunches.  Lois and I keep in touch via email most of the time and Val and I once again with cards and notes about what we've been up to.

Those are/were my really close friends I had over the years and I valued their friendship very much and I hope they did mine as well.  I have given up driving because of my arthritis being so bad (I do keep a current licence though...in case of emergencies) so don't have the ability to get out and visit people.  We have some great friends at our exercise group and we enjoy time with them every week but they are newer friends so not quite like those you have known for years.

There are a few more people I still keep in touch with one of whom we are hoping to have lunch with soon.  Colleen (she too worked at the Forests Dept) and Greg live up in our hills (the Darling Range) (and we are on the coast so we will try and find somewhere in between so neither couple has to travel very far.

I still have two very close and dear friends who are part of my life all the time and they are my other half who is just so good to me and my daughter who is always there for me (even though she gives me cheek at times).  Without those two my life would be rather empty.

I am sorry if that was long-winded but through this post I have had pleasure in reliving the pleasure I had knowing these friends of mine and, after all, I guess this is as much for me as for blogging friends who may pass this way to see what I've been on about for the letter F.