Sunday, September 23, 2012
Maria Grey Girls 50 years on.
There will be pictures, of course; but, not this evening.
Special days seem to be specially tiring.
Not like the special days of 50 years ago when we could dance until dawn.
Today the 10 girls of 50 years ago met up as the mature women of today.
I remember that day so well, when a gauche, naive girl of just 18 met the others who would share her life for 3 years.
They all seemed so knowing and aware......maturity tells me that most were feeling just as daunted.
But I doubt that my new room mate felt nervous.....she had lived a bit.
I arrived first with my cobbled together boxes and bags of things I thought might be necessary to live away from home. There was little money at home at that time. I came from a world of left wing politics, getting by, and intellectual pursuits; well, parents craved intellectual pursuits - I had rather turned my back on such things at that stage of life.
In my room - number 4 - I did manage to choose my end of the room, before Helen arrived.
Her huge trunk sat on the floor at the other end. On the top was a huge bouquet of red roses.
Helen swept in, dressed in a beautiful tailored grey suit, very high heels and a cigarette in a long holder. She was almost 2 years older than me.
Wow, she was beautiful......like something from the pictures!
She was good and kind - but backgrounds and life experiences were so very different.
The other girls arrived and we nervously introduced ourselves - usual thing, our names and where we came from.
And that was the beginning.
Fifty years later and the gang of trainee teachers met up as retired teachers.
It was the first time that all 10 of us actually met on the same occasion - there have been other meetings, but one or other was always unable to make it.
There had been 11 of us, originally, and we drank a toast to absent friends - Maureen had died young.
We and 8 husbands have enjoyed such a special day. The husbands have been part of the clan for most of the 50 years too. They had been boyfriends then - now they are husbands with golden weddings in the not too distant future.
We dined at a French restaurant, not far from our college.
I enjoyed the food and wine very much.
Much more I just enjoyed the joy of the day - talking, laughing, catching up on the latest news - grandchildren, ailments and our hopes for our remaining active years.
Four hours in the restaurant then evolved into tea and scones at Libby's house - who lives close by.
For one short day, the ten of us, became the Canada Girls again.......our student house was called Canada House.
We loved and laughed until it was time for each of us to return to our own worlds.
Special days seem to be specially tiring.
Not like the special days of 50 years ago when we could dance until dawn.
Today the 10 girls of 50 years ago met up as the mature women of today.
I remember that day so well, when a gauche, naive girl of just 18 met the others who would share her life for 3 years.
They all seemed so knowing and aware......maturity tells me that most were feeling just as daunted.
But I doubt that my new room mate felt nervous.....she had lived a bit.
I arrived first with my cobbled together boxes and bags of things I thought might be necessary to live away from home. There was little money at home at that time. I came from a world of left wing politics, getting by, and intellectual pursuits; well, parents craved intellectual pursuits - I had rather turned my back on such things at that stage of life.
In my room - number 4 - I did manage to choose my end of the room, before Helen arrived.
Her huge trunk sat on the floor at the other end. On the top was a huge bouquet of red roses.
Helen swept in, dressed in a beautiful tailored grey suit, very high heels and a cigarette in a long holder. She was almost 2 years older than me.
Wow, she was beautiful......like something from the pictures!
She was good and kind - but backgrounds and life experiences were so very different.
The other girls arrived and we nervously introduced ourselves - usual thing, our names and where we came from.
And that was the beginning.
Fifty years later and the gang of trainee teachers met up as retired teachers.
It was the first time that all 10 of us actually met on the same occasion - there have been other meetings, but one or other was always unable to make it.
There had been 11 of us, originally, and we drank a toast to absent friends - Maureen had died young.
We and 8 husbands have enjoyed such a special day. The husbands have been part of the clan for most of the 50 years too. They had been boyfriends then - now they are husbands with golden weddings in the not too distant future.
We dined at a French restaurant, not far from our college.
I enjoyed the food and wine very much.
Much more I just enjoyed the joy of the day - talking, laughing, catching up on the latest news - grandchildren, ailments and our hopes for our remaining active years.
Four hours in the restaurant then evolved into tea and scones at Libby's house - who lives close by.
For one short day, the ten of us, became the Canada Girls again.......our student house was called Canada House.
We loved and laughed until it was time for each of us to return to our own worlds.
