Friendship and Home

For B xxx

We have had a busy few weeks with family visiting and staying and last week a very dear friend came to stay for the week.  We haven't seen each other since she came to stay last year, but we soon slipped back into our old routine, sitting and chatting as if she had never moved away.  That's what friendship is about for me.  It doesn't matter how far away they live, or how long ago you saw them, you slip back into that friendship like a pair of comfortable slippers.

We had some lovely trips out including seeing Cornwalls' own Kneehigh Theatres performance of Rebecca, with all their usual fun, drama and quirkiness.  They are touring the play so if you get a chance go and see them, if only to see the incredibly imaginative way they transform the set.

We also went to see 45 years with the wonderful Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay.  It is a beautifully observed study of a long relationship which changes over the years as the couple age.  Their whole life together and their relationship that Charlottes character was so sure of is suddenly brought into question when a ghost from the past intrudes into their comfortable life.  It will not be to everyones taste but I found it very thought provoking and left me mulling it over for days after.  The added bonus for my friend was that it is set in Norwich, her home city and even included a friend of hers as an extra.

After living in Cornwall for several years, which is how we met, my friend made the decision to move back home to Norwich for various reasons.  Although she loved Cornwall, Norwich is where she grew up and will always be her home, just as Cornwall will always be my home.  We are both lucky to be able to choose to live in our 'home' counties.  Many thousands are forced to leave their homes and set out for an unknown future in other countries.  I have found it heartbreaking to watch the news in the last few months, seeing desperate people risking their lives to find somewhere they can be safe and start a new life free from fear.  I know it is a very contentious issue which has brought out the best and the worst in people.  The comments on social media have truly shocked me and made me feel like withdrawing from any form of online contact.  It saddens me that people I know are reposting such hateful things without even checking the source, just accepting things as fact when a couple of minutes research would show that they are complete lies.  I feel battered and bruised by the whole thing and needed to just withdraw and lick my wounds for a while.  However what I feel is nothing compared to those desperate people.  To me they are my fellow humans who need our help.  You may not agree with me and that is your right.  I will continue to do what I can to help, I have put together some toiletry bags that will be taken out to the refugees.  If you feel you want to do something,  various organisations have lists of what is needed, look up your local collection points.

Our plans for moving house have been put on hold to spend time with family and friends.  Next week will see me picking up the paint brush again in readiness to put the house on the market.  The excitement of it all has dulled in the face of images of families sleeping on the side of roads.  I know how lucky I am to have a roof over my head.



Chickpea xx