Lady in Lavender

This morning I met up with my friend, Margaret, who wanted to visit the Swindon Designer Outlet but we actually met up at the National Trust Headquarters, which is on an adjacent site. Our first coffee lasted quite a long time, but we then decided to go and do our shopping and meet up for lunch an hour later.

We don't meet very often as we are both retired, and both agreed we are busier than when we were at work, but when we do meet we never stop talking and just pick up where we left off the last time!

We were discussing how long we had been friends - Margaret said that I was 19 and she was 17 (I did note she emphasised that she was 2 years younger than me - but I'll forgive her for that!) when we met on a Rider Awareness Course, as we both had motor scooters at the time and we wanted to be sure we were safe on the road, so we have been friends for 48 years - wow, a long time!

She was our bridesmaid when we got married 45 years ago and although we don't live in the same town, we try and get together at least two or three times a year, but keep in touch via email and phone in between and it's always good to catch up on family news.

Margaret and I have been through a lot together, and I was thrilled a few years ago when she rang and said she had become a Christian and was going to be baptised. She asked if we would like to go to the service, and of course, we were delighted to support her.

Margaret is a lovely person and a pleasure to be with; she is involved with Street Pastors in the town where she lives, is the Treasurer of her church, enjoys walking with friends, and like me, she says she is always busy. We are quite different - she is quite shy and I am an extrovert, but our friendship has lasted all these years - so it's true that opposites attract.

This quote just about sums up our friendship:

A friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand. Is not the mountain far more awe-inspiring and more clearly visible to one passing through the valley than to those who inhabit the mountain?

Khalil Gibran