You may remember that in my blog about three weeks ago I described how I finally made contact with my old friend Neil after
a gap of 39 years? Well, I'm really happy to say that Neil, my brother
David and I have had our grand reunion! In the end, the location wasn't
Knightsbridge, nor did we drink cocktails, but as we sat in the
lovely gardens of the Royal Overseas League in Pall Mall (after all, it had to
be somewhere posh didn't it) in glorious sunshine last Friday, glasses of chilled prosecco
in hand, we were in agreement that the setting for our get-together was a very good one. So I do hope you'll
be willing to overlook our failure to comply with the finer detail of the task?
Anyway, back to the story. As David and I were waiting in the splendidly grand reception hall at ROSL for Neil to come and sign us in, I began to feel a tad anxious (as well as very excited of course). Would we have anything in common after so many years? Would we run out of conversation after half an hour? And crucially too, after Neil's serious health problems over the last 18 months, would it be a frail and vulnerable man who came forward to greet us? And then......'David..........!! Vivien........!!' called out a familiar voice from the other end of the reception hall - and there he was, a picture of seemingly robust health, arms outstretched, huge smile on his face and (if I may say so) displaying a very fine head of hair. The tone of the occasion was instantly established and the 39 year interval shrank to nothing.
During our wonderful 3-hour lunch (no, of course we didn’t run out of conversation after half an hour!) we not only spent plenty of time reminiscing and catching up, but also had a very satisfying grumpy old wo/man rant-ette about the evil of mobile phones (even though we use them all the time and two of us even checked our phones several times during the afternoon), overuse of selfies, the world's obsession with social media, the loss of face-to-face social interaction and so on - a sure sign of old friends feeling comfortable with and attuned to one another! And a very important conversation between us was about Neil’s health – diagnosed with a brain tumour that after many very difficult months became amazingly responsive to treatment, he described how he had relished the opportunity during chemotherapy to wear a vast array of natty hats without feeling as if he was showing off, and how these days he values and celebrates everything he does in the here and now. I think that's a brilliant attitude to have and it was one that David and I also embraced whole-heartedly last Friday afternoon. Naturally we didn't take any selfies (see above!), but we did ask the waitress to snap us (Neil's on the right) - I mean I do have to provide you with evidence.......
Anyway, back to the story. As David and I were waiting in the splendidly grand reception hall at ROSL for Neil to come and sign us in, I began to feel a tad anxious (as well as very excited of course). Would we have anything in common after so many years? Would we run out of conversation after half an hour? And crucially too, after Neil's serious health problems over the last 18 months, would it be a frail and vulnerable man who came forward to greet us? And then......'David..........!! Vivien........!!' called out a familiar voice from the other end of the reception hall - and there he was, a picture of seemingly robust health, arms outstretched, huge smile on his face and (if I may say so) displaying a very fine head of hair. The tone of the occasion was instantly established and the 39 year interval shrank to nothing.
During our wonderful 3-hour lunch (no, of course we didn’t run out of conversation after half an hour!) we not only spent plenty of time reminiscing and catching up, but also had a very satisfying grumpy old wo/man rant-ette about the evil of mobile phones (even though we use them all the time and two of us even checked our phones several times during the afternoon), overuse of selfies, the world's obsession with social media, the loss of face-to-face social interaction and so on - a sure sign of old friends feeling comfortable with and attuned to one another! And a very important conversation between us was about Neil’s health – diagnosed with a brain tumour that after many very difficult months became amazingly responsive to treatment, he described how he had relished the opportunity during chemotherapy to wear a vast array of natty hats without feeling as if he was showing off, and how these days he values and celebrates everything he does in the here and now. I think that's a brilliant attitude to have and it was one that David and I also embraced whole-heartedly last Friday afternoon. Naturally we didn't take any selfies (see above!), but we did ask the waitress to snap us (Neil's on the right) - I mean I do have to provide you with evidence.......
So that's a very special task completed, and one that, as my younger brother Clive
remarked afterwards, surely justifies the existence of my sixtyat60 list in its
own right. Task 50 may be in the can, but I shall be continuing to pester Neil
for regular get-togethers - Mr Simpson, prepare yourself!
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