Friends

Friend is a word we all use quite loosely to describe someone we know and their relationship to us. We may only have spoken to them a couple of times, but they quickly gain the status of a friend, because to say that someone is a woman/man I have known for a while, we're not close, but we pass the time of day and we both support Sheffield United, is a little too long-winded to explain who they are, so friend fits the bill.

My brother and his wife don't really have friends. They know a lot of people but my brother and his wife are with each other all the time.  They do not seek time away from each other - ever. In fact, they do whatever they can to spend every minute of the day together. I have often thought that if they each walked their (very lazy) dog separately, that the dog would benefit from two walks, rather than the inadequate one that it has currently.

My mother pointed out to me, from a young age, that I was very lucky because I had a lot of friends and was gregarious. She's right. To this day I have been lucky to have such great friends. Along the way you lose some as your circumstances change and you are very busy with work and looking after children. Or sometimes, we just grow out of each other, no harsh feelings, it's just how it is.

This weekend I met up with the 'girls' I was at school with from age 11. I had been in touch with them  on and off since leaving school, for big birthdays ending in a 0, weddings and so on. But never had the four of us met, not at a birthday or wedding, but just because we wanted to. We met in a cafe and stayed there for 5 and a half hours. During that time we had several drinks and lunch and filled each other in about the ups and downs of our lives.

It was great. I felt very at ease -as at ease as I did with these 3 when we were at school together, decades ago.  Next year, it's a long weekend away.  Can't wait!