Tracy circa 1987
My time in York (1986-1989) is when I grew up.
I was by no means wild, Gawd forbid that!
But I chose a new and wide set of friends, I had a moderate amount of sex and I assumed some responsibility at work
Tracey B was a part of this journey. She assumed the position of the two sisters I had left at home.
She liked me, she mothered me but I also made her laugh, which was a skill, I had learned through my psychiatric training.
You were liked if you were funny..
Over the past 48 hours Tracy and I have shared little snippet's of our lives.
“ Oh by the way …sort of things”
Perhaps a little fearful of over facing the other.
I have always been attracted by strong warm characters when I left York for Sheffield, Nu was waiting for me and in a swirl of a red skirt and a twirl of a Spanish like wrist , Tracy was gone.
No mobile phones or internet then
People did disappear .
I have the opportunity now to thank her for her warmth and friendship.
I was gauche and very Welsh and uninformed when I went to York.
I was just 24 and a young 24,
She was of similar age but a life time ahead of me and I was dazzled by her Sophia Loren smile and her wild hair and the way that people reacted to her.
My York years were my own very personal salad days.
Through Ally ( an OT friend of Tracy’s) I developed my love of the stage and for Opera. Through Dave was clumsy sexual awakenings and from Cheryl my ability of becoming a good friend.
Tracy made me laugh, though.
Laugh, long and hard without shame or worry.
Boy, and did she make me laugh
I grew immensely in 1979-80. I found a hard edged instinct that has served me well.
ReplyDeleteThere's no forgetting the friends of our youth, is there? And wow, she did look like Sophia Loren!
ReplyDeleteNo Debra, that's John lying again. That IS Sophia Loren in the photograph.
DeleteShoot me lol
DeleteTracy was the SPIT of ms Loren , perhaps twinned with a young jennifer jones
DeleteSocial media, can reconnect us in amazing ways.
ReplyDeleteThe good spect of it david xx
DeleteTracy sounds like the ideal friend for a gauche youth. Lucky her to look like the oh so wonderful Sophia Loren.
ReplyDeleteAnd she so did, I remember realising that at the time
DeleteRemember "Friends Reunited"? Through that, I mostly discovered that I wanted to leave the past and the people who occupied it behind me. Mind you, I would make an exception for someone who, as Debra S.W.S. points out, was the spitting image of the most gorgeous Sophia Loren.
ReplyDeleteIn my life she is the only one I’ve ever regretted to have lost contact with
DeleteWhat a lovely post and such an opportunity to relive your ‘salad days’. Jan in Castle Gresley
ReplyDeleteThank you Jan, it is indeed a happy post
DeleteWhat a serendipitous re-connection. I hope you have arranged a meet up with Tracy, to fill in some of the blanks, relive some of the past and laugh some more. xx
ReplyDeleteWe will .meet up, if that I m sure, perhaps in Betty’s over a fat rascal
DeleteHow lovely that you are back in touch with each other. I wonder if she has aged as wonderfully as Sophia Loren has, she's still a magnificent woman and has just reached 90.
ReplyDeleteHe face and indeed attitude looks exactly the same from the few photos I’ve seen.
DeleteThe smile and the Loren look is there still
Laughter lasts far longer than so many other things, it makes life bearable.
ReplyDeleteI’ve always been drawn by warmth and by laughter, I was hungry for it
DeleteThere's just something about laughing together that is as special and as bonding as any other form of human communication. There has to be understanding and there has to be trust for it to happen. I am so glad you've found Tracy again.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully put my friend
DeleteIs't that a photo of Sophia Loren? If so you should have made that clear and not stated underneath it that it was your friend.
ReplyDeleteWhy? An idiot can tell who it is
DeleteAnd she did!
DeleteLaughter and shared experiences are a wonderful basis for ongoing friendships. Seem Tracy was beautiful inside as well as outside. How marvelous that your renewed friendship has brought you both happiness!
ReplyDeleteHope you're still smiling today. :-)
Hugs!
I sent her my blog link to which she replied “oh how lovely🥰
DeleteGawd alright! It must be so tiring to be so critical of a piece of writing. I trust that they apply the same criteria to the other things they read, listen and view. They must be so exhausted! 😩
ReplyDeleteGawd it must be so tiring to have to make the effort of examining all the comments and making a statement about them. You must be exhausted expending all that energy on an anonymous reader. However it's noted that you're anonymous yourself.
DeleteGawd almighty
DeleteNasty nasty reply. Typical.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteThere is no better, stronger or simpler bond than shared laughter. That ability to just look at the other person, read their thoughts and know they are as absurd as your own - and laugh together. Makes the years in between dissolve away. And to find her again after all these years is a very particular blessing. Hope you manage to meet up again and share so much of that shared past. Will make you both young again!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately meeting a friend can't turn back time and make one young again. In fact on leaving the meeting one will be even older than when arriving.
DeleteI think talking about old times is a lovely pastime for a meet. Over tea and cakes and laughter x
DeleteIt's great that you are now able to follow up with her and share some of those memories. Boy, she DID look like Sophia Loren. :)
ReplyDeleteArrrrrrhhhhhhhhhh Stevie
DeleteIt IS SOPHIA LOREN lol…
Lee
Steady Lee x
DeleteGood thing I didn't do my nurse training in York - I don't think I'd have been able to concentrate!
ReplyDeleteI thought you only had eyes for Chic Eleanor
DeleteI do, I do!
DeleteLol
Delete40 years later the Sophia Loren vibe may have dimmed a tad? But the charm will still remain.PS Salad days john sounds so adorable!
ReplyDeleteThey were happy days
DeleteOh my god, she does look exactly like Sophia Loren (OK, I know, I know). I’ve already grown to like Tracey. So glad you’ve reconnected. Some of my reconnections have been excruciatingly disappointing.
ReplyDelete