A recent visit with a forever friend has resulted in a new collaboration; we are going to start writing together this fall. That is, come up with story ideas, contribute to writing and editing and hold each other accountable.
We had not seen each other for more than ten years, keeping in touch only sporadically through email and Christmas cards during that time. She returned to our hometown this summer to sell her family’s home so we got to hang out before her return to British Columbia.
It is one of those friendships where no matter the time lapsed between visits, we pick up where we left off; an example of the old adage, ‘Make new friends but keep the old. The new are sliver, the old are gold”. Sharing mistakes, adventures and naivete as teens and twenty-somethings provides lasting bonds.
During high school and as young adults, we had lofty intentions of becoming writers. She was the only person with whom I discussed writing at all and for many years we were each other’s touchstone for our aspirations.
Amid the laughter and reminiscing this time, we were also lamenting the fact that ties to our hometown were mostly severed. Given the distance between where we each live now, we also knew the odds were slim of getting together very often, if at all, in the future. It was definitely feeling like the end of an era.
We decided to start a new era and work jointly on a few stories that have been percolating for a while. Our first story will be about her aunts who roam the expansive cemetery abutting the cul-de-sac where they all live. For fifty years they have made it their duty to relentlessly review the burial services of their neighbours and townsfolk. My friend’s wicked humour, sharp recall and attention to detail will enable us to capture the funny.
How great is it that technology makes it possible to connect and work virtually? I wish we had thought of this sooner.
Writing will not be our first project as a team. We co-owned and operated the Acorn Tea Room in the early 1970s. One of our favourite things to do while pouring and serving was to open the dictionary and blindly choose a word. The fun was in finding a word that was new to us and practice using it all day.
I am so excited with this plan to work on our writing together. It is a gift presenting itself at just the right time. I hope we’ll continue to inspire and motivate each other.
As long as she doesn’t insist on writing about the time we got kicked off of CBC radio half way through their interview with us, it should all work out just fine.
