Friendship, And Distance

~ beetleypete

I read a post earlier today from my blogging friend in Australia, Lloyd Marken. He wrote about attending the wedding of a friend. Since those friends had grown up, got married, and moved around the vast country that is Australia, they don’t get to see that much of each other. But when he was invited to that old friend’s wedding, he did not hesitate to book a hotel, then drive almost 800 miles to Sydney.

THE BOOK OF LOVE

Real friends are like gold dust. Real friends endure, despite distances that might separate you. And they rarely judge you.

Compared to Australia, England is tiny. Yet moving just 140 miles from London means that I rarely see my oldest and best friends. Add to that the sad fact that a few of them have died, and you might be forgiven for thinking that my friends are now few and far between.

Yet nothing could be further from the truth.

Despite lack of physical contact since I moved to Beetley, made worse by travel restrictions during the pandemic lockdowns, my oldest friends are undoubtedly still my best friends, whether I am able to see them, or not.

There is nothing I would not do for those real friends. I would give them my last pound, lie in court for them, and give them my car if they needed to drive anywhere. I would let them stay in my house rent-free, send them food, in fact anything they ever needed or wanted.

The simple fact that I no longer live near any of them is meaningless. For that matter, I could be living in Australia, and never see them again.

But they would be my best friends, until my dying day.

76 thoughts on “Friendship, And Distance”

  2. This is what I’d like to think too, that distance doesn’t matter, but some use it as an excuse to not keep in touch when we have so many forms of technology to stay connected.

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  3. I live in Australia and have done all my life, apart from a year living in rural Somerset, and I have a daughter and granddaughter in Cheddar UK. I’m not sure when i will be able to travel to see them again. Yes you’re right Australia is a big country! Nice to read your post, I’m visiting from Stevie’s Friday Click and Fun 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Debbie. One of my good friends moved to New Zealand many years ago, and we have not seen each other since. But we keep in touch by email, and he follows my blog. Nothing changed, except the distance.
      Cheddar is a 4.5 hour drive from Beetley, and that seems to me to be an incredibly long way. That’s the difference of an ‘English mentality’, I suspect. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  5. your story really touches me, nowadays there are only a few people who value friendship. “Real friends endure, despite distances” well said, because of this I reminisce the good old days

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  8. Pingback: Friendship, And Distance – Magical BookLush

  11. It is hard to explain the loss of a friend. They seem to take a part of me when they go. I feel it most strongly with my best college friend who has dementia. She was really the only friend who clearly knew my college self and I miss her terribly.

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      1. One of my favorite shares with that friend was how dreadful my college lover was. Her husband told me that even he knew how dreadful that boy was! It’s that kind of little detail I miss.

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  15. We just enjoyed a final dinner on the patio of our dear friends home last night, they sold the family house and they’re moving two hours away. While we all got a little emotional in our good-byes, we realize we will always be friends, distance doesn’t matter, but when you live just miles apart it is easy to see each other often. Love the loyalty you gift to your friends Pete, C

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    1. Thanks, Wilma. In these days of social media, so many people are regarded as ‘friends’, but we are old enough to know what real friendship means.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  17. (1) You might think that 140 miles is a long way from London. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.
    (2) I would give them my last pound. Weight, are you sure?
    (3) I would lie in court for them. Just give me a pillow, and wake me up when the jury returns with the verdict.
    (4) I would give them my car if they needed to drive anywhere. Just don’t pull a Thelma & Louise stunt, okay?
    (5) I would let them stay in my house rent-free. However, there are usage fees for the television, the toilet, and the toaster oven.
    (6) I would send them food. I hope they like last year’s fruitcake and eggnog.
    (7) Australians like their pancakes. IHOP does great business down under.
    (8) Bad citation: “But they would be my best friends, until my dying day. After that, I’ll haunt them for shits and giggles.”

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  21. So true. As a wandering nomad there’s few opportunities to make those deep kind of friendships that last forever… Still, I’ve crossed paths with a couple kindred souls and we remain in touch long after we’ve parted ways. Those kind of friendships are a beautiful thing. As we nomads typically say, “It’s never goodbye, it’s always see you later.”

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  25. Thanks for sharing this…lifetime friendships aren’t about distance, it’s about a connection that can be re-established at any time…we all have lives that get in the way, but that doesn’t mean the bond is broken

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  28. Hi Pete, I think it’s wonderful that you have friends you feel so strongly about. I moved around so much as a child and attended 14 different schools [yes, sometimes more than one in a single school year] that I learned not to form close attachments. I am close to my sisters and my parents but I don’t have life long friends.

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    1. I have a close relationship with cousins from childhood, but never had any siblings. My friends date from 1963 on, so 57 years and more. I treasure them, Robbie. They are everything to me.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. Three of my friends I met on the first day of secondary school, in 1963. I spoke to one of them yesterday. I haven’t seen her for a year, bceause of coronavirus, but it didn’t matter a jot.
      Thanks, Betty. Glad to hear you have a 57 year-old friend.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. I have been blessed with some amazing friends, Geoff. Though three of them have since died, they are never forgotten. And some of those remaining I have known for 58 years.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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