Audrey and I met when we were five and developed a friendship which lasted from then till her death. Our mothers also became friends which helped us keep in touch after Audrey’s move to Farncombe while still in primary school but it wasn’t long before we maintained contact quite separately from our mothers.

We spent a lot of time outdoors and as we got older would see how far we could walk while exploring the flora and fauna we came upon. Later we took at least one coach trip for a day by the sea and when we were about eighteen we spent a week in a B and B in Margate where we took in Dreamland (now newly restored!) and a jazz ball inBroadstairs.

I was still at college when Audrey married but I had heard all about her meeting John at the Alby John School of Dancing in Guildford where they attended lessons on Saturday mornings. Andrew and Johanna came along and some years later I too married and went on to have a son and a daughter.

We continued to write and visit during holidays and it seems that in no time at all our children were grown up. We kept in touch and spent time
together when possible. The last occasion was a year or two ago when we all spent a day together during one of John and Audrey’s visits to Devil’s Bridge and ours to Tywyn - which was where we met up.

When we both had computers contact was much easier as we continued to share our news and views. When Audrey wrote about her cancer diagnosis we exchanged thoughts on life and death and everything in between while she was able, and I was privileged to speak to her on the phone shortly before she died when we said goodbye.

John kindly filled me in with details of how her illness was progressing, how they were coping together, and of the Quaker meeting held in their home a few days before her death. He even told me how he and Johanna spent the time after her death and before Audrey’s body was taken away from the house so it felt very much as if I were there and involved, even though I was at the other end of the country.

The ending of a sixty-five year friendship leaves a big gap but it is beginning to be filled with gratitude that I had such a wonderful friend - the sister I never had - and many, many happy memories.

Meg Jackson