OLD FRIEND, NEW FRIEND

In June 1998 we met Phil (not the same one who gave me the camera lesson!) when he came over here from America to work for Lucent Technologies. We befriended him when he came to our church and he often came to have a meal with us. We also met his wife, Judy, and their children when they came over at Christmas of that year. Phil returned to The States in September 1999 but we have kept in touch with him since then.

We went over to stay with Phil and Judy in 2006 and had a great time - they showed us the sights around where they lived and in Chicago and after that we went on to stay with other friends in Indiana.

A couple of years later, their daughter came over with a friend and stayed with us for two weeks; having two teenage girls in the house was quite an eye opener but we all survived to tell the tale! Sadly, Judy passed away in April 2009, but we remember her with great affection, especially her kindness to us when she was so poorly.

Phil got married again last Saturday and he and his new wife, Jackie, came to London for their honeymoon. Phil wanted to come to Swindon to see us, so they duly arrived mid-morning. We knew we didn't have much time as they didn't want to be too late back this evening, having done lots of walking this week, and they have an early flight tomorrow morning, so we took them on a whistle-stop tour of the Wiltshire countryside. Jackie and I sat in the back of the car and chatted - we had only just met, but it seemed like we had been friends forever! Mr. HCB and Phil sat in the front and had a few years to catch up on too.

First of all we visited Silbury Hill, then we took them to the Waggon & Horses, a thatched pub nearby where we had lunch. As we drove through the countryside and Wiltshire is looking quite beautiful at the moment, Jackie told me that she loved to read the English classics and now she has seen the countryside for herself, they will become more real to her.

We took them back to Avebury, which was on our way home, where we walked around the very pretty village followed by a quick walk round the stones before coming back to our house for a drink, then back to the station. Phew!

It's amazing, even when you don't see a person for some years, how you just pick up where you left off almost - I know we have all got older, but it was great to see Phil again and to meet Jackie for the first time; I'm sure we will keep in touch and hope that we may meet again someday, who knows?

This seems an appropriate song!

“More than anything
we have to realise
we cannot
drain the cup of friendship,
taking all we can get
of care, attention and
concern
without doing our share
to help refill
the cup.”
Albert J. Nimeth