Neither of us can fathom how our paths crossed.
Yes, we attended the same school, but it was a dual-medium school. She was in a standard below mine, and in the English class. I was in the Afrikaans class. There was no commonality to bring us together; no sport, nor cultural activities.
Back in the 60s, there was some animosity between the two language groups, stemming back to the Anglo-Boer War. I did not share the sentiments of that division.
This fascinating read gives insight into how that war shaped South Africa, and still does today!
Yes, we shared similar interests; both of us loved reading, and I mostly read English books. Come to think of it, perhaps it was in the library?
I have no idea, but we immediately clicked, and so a friendship was formed that is still alive and well!
On Saturdays, we used to take the bus to the city centre, go to the movies, or walk to the beachfront, where we'd find a spot on the main surfing beach to 'check out the talent' ! A group of us often took a bus in the evenings and went to the 'groovy' clubs in Durban; the ones we remembered when we were reminiscing were 'Raffles' and 'Father's Moustache'. Of course, Melanie was always there!
I'm not sure if I shared this story before, but we had a bright idea once and planned a sleepover on the beach. Everyone told their parents they were sleeping over at their friend's house. We thought it was going to be a super exciting adventure.
After dancing the night away, we walked from the club to a sheltered spot on the beach and settled for the night. Next, we heard men's voices nearby, got such a fright that we all jumped up and ran across the road, into a block of flats, and took the lift to the top floor. The door to the roof was open, and we found a nice sheltered spot to 'sleep'.
It was freezing cold, no one could sleep, and as soon as the sun came up, we gathered our stuff, dying to take a bus back home so we could get warm and get some rest.
My glasses were missing, though, so off to the beach we all went, and thankfully found my glasses in the sand. I must have dropped them when we took fright in the middle of the night;)
We got into trouble a couple of times, and both our Moms thought the other one was to blame;)
Our paths took a fork after we got married, but we still kept in contact periodically.
The connection never broke, though, and my dear friend and I picked up where we started way back in the late 1960s, during the most difficult periods in my life.
It's as if there is a thread between us that will never break, and we uncannily often know when the other one is troubled.
A lifelong friendship from childhood that cannot be broken and has withstood the ravages of the years; friends for life!
This has been my response to
The Silverbloggers Chronicles - Prompt #11 - Your best friend from childhood
Tell us about your best friend from childhood.
How did you meet? Are you still in touch?
Take a peek at The Silver Bloggers Community for our weekly prompts; there's a brand new one out already, and it's a Blast from the Past: Toys and Games!
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