Vocal Voices

We were on holiday at Butlin's in Filey in the summer of 1978 when I met Jackie and her family.

We met a few days into the holiday and were virtually inseparable from the start!

Jackie went home first and promised to write to me and sure enough, when I got home, there was a letter waiting for me from her.

We continued to write to each other (we both still have every single letter ) until I moved to Birmingham in 1982.

Jackie's family were so good to me and her mum became like a second mum.

Jackie and I have remained the best of friends all these years and I absolutely adore her.

Last year when she was over here we were sitting in the garden re-reading all the letters she wrote to me and we were howling with laughter...so much so, my lot came outside to see what was going on!

I have lots of friends, lots of very good friends but Jackie always has been and always will be my bestie.

My bestie is Lisa. Her parents moved into the house opposite my parents within two months of each. Not long after along came me and three months later, Lisa.

We all holidayed together and were inseparable. We went to the same schools but we're in different classes. In fact we didn't really hang out together much at school but saw each other out of school all the time.

She lives about 10 minutes away from us and I see her at least once a week and talk/text every day.


Sent from the top of the world looking down on creation .......

I don't really have a female best friend but am very close to three school friends who all live away, but when we meet up, we slip straight into the old friendship. Mr Osc is my best friend and we met on my 18th birthday - I fancied his friend, but Mr Osc lived near me and we got the same bus home from college. A strong friendship developed, and everyone thought we were a couple before we actually became one five months later. That was 48 years ago (faints in shock seeing it written down) ). Because we met so young, I reckon that is why I never made close female friends in my working life.

I was 12. My dad played cricket for a village club, and at that age I always went along, wherever he was playing, as did Mum.
On Tuesdays he helped coach players from Guildford tech; there were a couple who lived in Farnham, Eric and Richard.
I got to know both of them, but Eric in particular was nice; considering I was 12 and he was a cool 18 he always bothered to talk to me, proper conversations.
Then he went to university in Sheffield, but I'd see him occasionally in town and he'd always stop to chat.
At 15 I started going to one of the pubs in town, and it was the same one he and his mates went to, so I'd see him again, whenever he was home.
He played table football (national doubles champion! - he was on Nationwide ) and taught me; we used to win all our evening's drinks

With or without girl/boyfriends, we were best mates; we played table football, I'd practise my cooking on him - he'd come round for dinner then give me a lift into town before going our separate ways...drive me (too fast) into London on a Saturday.
All the time I was working in London (5-6 years) we'd sometimes see each other on the train; he taught me how to do 'proper' crosswords, we'd meet for a drink in London...
We did go out with each other but briefly; I adored him but he had big ambitions and wasn't about to be tied down, and I realised I preferred him as the big brother I'd always wanted.
Never really lost contact; he worked all over the world but even when we were both married would still would go to the same pubs in Farnham, so we still saw each other and would have long talks.

Fast forward a few years and his world came crashing down; he lost his business, virtually all his money, house, flash cars, a lot of friends, his wife...
By then I was living alone; he moved to a tiny flat on the coast (thanks to one of his loyal friends), he'd come to my flat or I'd go to his for odd weekends.
We were still best mates.
Then he moved to Las Vegas for a couple of years to help someone with their business and I visited him there...which was when it became apparent that his previously pretty well-controlled drinking had escalated hugely.
We stayed friends; he met Bb and they got on, when he came back from the US he even moved down near us for a while...but the drinking and associated problems won in the end.
Everything you read about alcoholics is true; unless they really want to help themselves, there is no hope.
We were still in touch, on and off, but it would never be the same.
I had the phone call I'd been dreading three years ago, he died from acute liver failure.

((((((Di))))))

Oh Di, that is so sad

My oldest friend is Kim, we met when she was 8 and I was 7, as we lived in the same road and I played with a girl opposite and so did Kim. We were more like sisters. If we were at a loose end we would play together but if either got a better offer, we'd be off Most of my childhood memories involve her and her brother. I am still close to her mum. Kim now lives in London, so we don't meet up that often, she has four grandchildren now, so they take up all her days off.

I am not really sure who I would class as my best friend out of all my friends. For my 50th I invited all my friends to a Chinese meal and I remember standing at the end of the table thinking how much I care about all of them and how lucky I am to have such lovely people in my life.

Diflower wrote:Everything you read about alcoholics is true; unless they really want to help themselves, there is no hope.

(((((((((((((DI))))))))))) How odd that you should talk about alcoholism - there was a lady in work today with her husband, she was chatting while he was having his eye test (I know them both) and she was telling me about her sister (who I also know) being alcoholic and how it's killing their mum...the sister had split with her H and it seems to have hit her hard, she's gone a bit astray and even her now grown kids don't want to visit her because they feel there's no point, she's always p***ed So sad.

Like Osc I don't have a best friend. I'd have said my friend Caroline a few years ago - we grew up together and had kids the same time etc etc.....but I lost touch with her and now I don't have a clue what's happened to her. I guess I'd call Jan at work my bestie these days....we can talk about anything and everything, we have been told we have a great relationship (we know!) and we're always there to support and help each other. We don't go out socially together, but we are always texting even on our days off

How sad Di. xxx

I'm not sure about a best friend these days, unless we are allowed to count sisters? I can tell mine anything these days, and vice versa. She is the one I would always turn to first. I do still have two good friends from school days, but we aren't all that close - geographically or otherwise!

I've had some lovely friends over the years, but having moved around so much have often lost touch - easy to do in the days before social media! I do have a few nice new friends here in Gloucester now, which is making living here more enjoyable

((((Di)))) You are so right, people have to want to quit. My first husband died from heart failure rather than give up drinking (and smoking) to be put on the transplant list We had been divorced for almost 20 years by then but it caused my Chris a lot of grief, and it took me a while to forgive him for that.............

We moved every few years, (months sometimes) the longest I ever lived in one place was 5 years - once

Until I was 16, when I left home, so the only real best mate is grumpy