Katrin and Me.

Katrin's visit was brilliant yesterday really good, no matter how long since we last saw each other we always click straight away.

Yesterday we started talking as soon as she was here at 12.30 until 5.30 when she had to rush to catch her 6 pm train.

As usual afterwards I realised that most of what I had meant to talk about did not get talked about.

But that is how conversation goes, they take on dynamism of its own, one minute you are talking about the present and then you refer to the past.

It is like a sort of ping pong between the people participating; yesterday we talked about so many things.

It is brilliant to be so in tune with someone, and yet we are so different too, we have had such different lives.

Different upbringings and different circumstances, she has had opportunities that I have never had, and I have had experiences she will never have and vice versa and yet all those differences did not stop us from becoming good friends when we were little children.

We have not even seen each other that often, she is 60 and I am 58 now.
In all we have seen each other perhaps on 10 occasions.

We met for the first time in 1955, we stayed for a 2 weeks in their home in Koln, Germany, then again in 1958 again for 2 weeks, then in 1962 for a few days again in Koln, this would be the last visit to their house in Koln.

The year after they moved to Scharbeutz, a lovely town on the Baltic Sea coast.

The next time we saw each other Katrin, visited us in Reading, England for a couple of weeks in early summer 1966 and I had the great pleasure of going home back with her for the last month of the summer holidays to Scharbeutz.

A magical place, especially because it got me away from the constant arguments and the clostrophic supervision of my mother.

It was an excellent holiday, right by the beach, with my favourite cousin and sea and sand and best of all they had a dinghy which we took out quite often.

The holiday was good for me it enabled me to be myself and to be able to express myself.

Nice to be treated as an adult at age 15 and not made to feel a stupid kid like I was a t home.

I visited again for the entire summer holidays in 1967, we were living in Bonn, Germany and I was allowed to go alone on the train from Bonn to Hamburg where Katrin would meet me and take me on a local train to her home.

A great holiday, Katrin’s class went to Copenhagen and they could take one person extra and I could go with them.

We sailed on a night boat; I stayed up on deck watching the moonlight on the waves and the moon and stars.

Great trip even had my first kiss with the nicest and best looking boy in the class, he was a gentleman, and it has stayed with me as a sweet memory.

It was a wonderful unforgettable holiday.

Then I did not see Katrin again until 1979 in Paris for a weekend, was nervous how it would go but as soon as we met it felt good between us.

12 years in between had not diminished our feelings and friendship for each other and we had a delightful time.

I met her partner and 2 year old daughter and they me my then boyfriend and we had a good weekend.

As often happens things always intervened and the next time we saw each was in 2001 again for a weekend in Paris to celebrate my 50 birthday.

I am very happy that since I have been in bed last year Katrin’s has been able to get here more often, she visited twice, one over night stay and the second time for 5 hours and again yesterday for 5 hours wonderful hours.

It is brilliant that 54 years after meeting at age 4 and 6 we sill love each other and are still great friends at the ages of 58, me and 60, Katrin.

Time changes many things but has not changed our friendship.