The beauty of long lasting friendships is they last over long distances and long breaks of not seeing each other.
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My cousin called in for a brief catchup this week. We are the same age, if fact there's only weeks between a lot of us cousins. She was in the area to catch up with long-time friends - one of those friends moved to the Manning some years ago.
My cousin and her partner now live in Port Stephens. She grew up with her large family in the "family house" in East Maitland and there was plenty of fun to be had when we cousins visited. Hide and seek could last for hours as the historic two storey home (known as Lincoln House) was huge and from memory, the wardrobes were the best hiding spots - or under the stairs.
Likewise when she came to stay at our place, we'd roam the hills. She remembers visits to our nearest neighbour, in the paddock behind us, four kids and a baby grand piano. I remember the family weddings we attended - all the kids went. I don't remember the ceremony but the receptions, usually in a country hall, were pure fun.
She was/is a nurse and spent many years in the Middle East, where she met her partner. In my court reporting days, covering criminal trials and while legal argument was going on (voir dire), I would pen her letters. It was that far back that we still wrote and posted letters via airmail.
We caught up back in Oz from time to time over the years, usually and unfortunately at times of sickness and death.
Almost 10 years ago now we met in Dubai (today's picture is of me, in front of one of the tallest buildings in the world, but you will have to take my word for it). She and her partner were living in Abu Dhabi, my daughter and I were headed to England where my daughter was attending and addressing a couple of conferences. Looking back, it was quite special meeting on the other side of the world, in a country that was so everyday for her and so foreign for us. There's a photo of us in a Dubai shopping mall which has a indoor ski slope (of course). Despite her and her partner's local knowledge, we still couldn't find mojitos with actual alcohol in them. Dry Dubai.
We parted with promises to come for a sleepover at their place in the not too distance future. After all, they are just down the road. And there's some family "secrets" we would like to delve into. We came from the generation where children were seen and not heard, but these 'children' are up for a bit of a dig into the past. Skeletons in those big closets we hid in? I'm glad I didn't think of that when I was an eight-year-old.
So that's a highlight of my week. Have a great weekend,
Toni Bell
ACM editor, Manning River Times