Rekindling Old Friendships!

On Tuesday I met an old friend, someone I have known for thirty plus years and a person I lost contact with about ten years ago. Our lives travelled in very different directions and somehow along the way we lost contact, which was a shame, but a sad fact of life in this day and age. 

I have managed to keep in contact with many of those I went to school with, only because of social media; without facebook it is doubtful I would see anyone from my past. Reconnecting with old friends is easier now than it ever has been; I am a firm advocate of online sites that allow those we once knew the ability to seek each other out. Friendships are important, especially as we get older.

Garry doesn't have a social media presence on the net, so it was much harder for him to track me down, but through this blog he was able to get a message to me, allowing us to meet up after a lifetime apart.

Garry was one of the mates I hung around with at College in Fareham. There were a few of us, who would spend time doing our homework in the Admiral Cunningham Public House, near the campus. Handing in homework covered in beer and red wine stains was commonplace and part of my youth. We were all under age at the time, but nobody seemed to mind, least of all the landlord; I have many happy memories, created in this pub, no longer a part of the local community it served!

In the evening we would often frequent local student haunts in Stubbington and Lee-on-Solent, along the south coast of England, many of which are long since gone. These were happy carefree days for me; a time when I became aware of who I was and was finally free from the shackles that school heaped upon my shoulders. School was a deeply unhappy time for me, College was an altogether better period, where thankfully I made some fantastic friendships.

I told Garry I would find a few old photographs to put in this blog entry; as I am true to my word here they are; photo's that feel like they were taken yesterday, documenting a youth far removed from today. When I look back over these and other pictures, I can confidently say I am content with my lot but unhappy about just how far I have come. Looking in on other peoples lives I am conscious at the success they have enjoyed for different reasons. My future did not turn out as predicted, I would never use the word 'success' to describe my own circumstances. Illness, sexuality and an unconventional relationship all played their part in ensuring my life turned out very differently.

I have no regrets about anything and am glad those I went to school and college with, have enjoyed the attainment they have. These were people who have worked hard unlike me, who spent a lifetime trying to block out a past, that continues to haunt me to this day.

It's great to be in contact with Garry once again and I hope to see more of him, before I once again leave British shores!

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