COFFEE CATCH-UP WITH AN OLD FRIEND

Like most photographers I know, I am not keen on being in photographs or taking selfies, but sometimes it just has to be done.  This is my friend, Jean, and me - after our coffee catch-up this morning at The Marriott.

Jean and I go back a long way - in fact, almost fifty years.  I think we must have met a couple of years after Mr. HCB and I were first married when both families attended Immanuel Congregational Church, as it was then.  We hit it off immediately, taught in Sunday School together and of course, knew each other’s families.  I knew her parents, as they lived in the same road as us, and Jean knew Mr. HCB’s parents, who lived just round the corner from where they lived.  We both said this morning what a lovely community it was in those days.

In fact, I remember when I had just had our first baby, Jean sent a message to say that if Mr. HCB let her have our sheets and any other washing, she would do it for us and was happy to help in any other way.  You could say that Jean is a “salt of the earth” kind of person.

After we both moved, we didn’t see much of each other over the years, but we were always in touch at Christmas.  I remember that our very first Christmas card almost every year was from Jean and her husband, John and there was always a letter enclosed bring us up to date with what was happening in her family.  The reason for the early card was that she and her husband were usually going off to Hong Kong to visit their son, Chris and his family over there for about six weeks and she always liked to let people know they would be away for the festive season.

It was her son, Chris and his wife, Alice, and their twin girls, Isla and Maya, we went to see when we were in Hong Kong earlier this year, and Chris kindly took us all round Hong Kong on a very wet day - in fact, he treated us royally!

It has been great renewing our friendship, and although Jean has suffered health-wise in the past few years, she never grumbles and always looks on the bright side of life - we meet up now about once a month and it’s good to reminisce about old times.  

Jean also knew Hilary, whose funeral I attended a couple of weeks ago, so it was good to be able to show her the Order of Service and once again, to chat about how we all met at Immanuel. 

I am so thrilled that to celebrate a special birthday this year, she will be going with her daughter, Sue, to visit Chris and his family and I hope they have a wonderful time together.  

Jean and her husband don’t have access to the internet, so as I am in touch with Alice, their daughter-in-law, who sends me photographs of the twins regularly, I usually print them off for Jean so that she can put them into a special album I made for her of our time in Hong Kong, on our return.  Today, after our coffee, we went out onto the patio at the hotel and I made a short video of us singing “Happy Birthday” to the twins, as it is their birthday on Thursday, (the same date as our granddaughter, Charlotte) - that will soon be winging its way to Hong Kong, so that Alice and Chris can show them on their actual birthday.

“Time changes our appearances
     and our addresses…..
          but time can never steal from us
               the memories that shape our lives
                    and our destinies.”
Marsha Carol Watson Gandy