‘I’ve found joy in reconnecting with old friends I’d lost touch with’

Have you ever met up with a friend or relative after many years apart? I have several times and it’s such a great feeling!

When I was eight, I became friends with two sisters, Judith and Nola, in my composite class. I hit it off with the older sister straight away.

I was a skinny child and she was a little more chubby. We both got bullied about the way we would walk around the playground and hold hands, which was something a lot of little girls did when I was growing up. We’d be called ‘Fatty and Skinny’ or ‘Laurel and Hardy’. Her sister Nola was a tomboy and would clench her fist and warn off anyone who made fun of us but it was of little use.

When we got to sixth class we were told what high school we would be attending. I was excited that we’d all be going to the new one in our area. I still remember how I turned up on that first day of high school wearing my new uniform and gloves and feeling so happy. But my friend wasn’t there …

Her younger sister told me that she’d got a job and was working. Turns out my friend was older than I thought and her parents needed her to go out and work.

My parents moved to another part of Sydney, New South Wales, and so I began a new life. I attended a different high school and on the first day I walked through the gates in my fine uniform, a slim girl wearing a beanie with a pom pom on her head came up to me and said, “Gosh, you look funny!”

“So do you,” I replied.

We both started laughing and it was the beginning of a firm friendship. We are still friends to this day, though we lost contact for about 11 years somewhere in the middle. Now we see each other every fortnight!

During that period when one of the prime ministers were feeling generous and gave everyone a $1,000 bonus, my daughters suggested I use the money to buy a computer. I’d never had one before, never even touched one to be honest. But off to Dick Smith or one of the computer stores we went to buy one.

That computer purchase changed my life. I was playing around one day when my daughter called me to say that someone had been looking for me in one of those online friend finding groups (before Facebook took over the world). With a bit of assistance I navigated my way through this world and it put me in touch with my school friend’s younger sister, Nola. We arranged to meet at a local tavern near Nelson Bay.

When I walked through the door I saw Nola and Judith, who I discovered was now in a wheelchair. She cried and said, “I don’t remember you being so tall.”

“I was probably only 12 years old the last time you saw me,” I laughed in response.

We talked and caught up. I learned Judith had heart problems and suffered from diabetes.

Another occasion where I’ve reconnected with an old friend was more recent. I married my husband in 1969 and I’d invited a friend to attend. I saw her once after the wedding and then we lost touch.

Last Christmas my granddaughter was going through my Christmas box when she pulled out a Christmas card. “Who’s this person, Nan?” she asked.

It was the friend who I’d lost touch with after my wedding. Sitting down in front of the computer I looked her up using the name she’d put on the card. I found a phone number and called it.

When she answered the phone I said, “Guess who this is?” and she immediately responded with, “I know that voice!”

We made plans to meet up during that phone call and we see each other regularly for coffee. She doesn’t live far from me either!

Reconnecting with old friends can be so rewarding. I’ve been fortunate.

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