What's all this then? Well, I had to look it up myself as just this week I have celebrated a 40th Anniversary.
No, clearly not a wedding one, for those of you fleet enough of mind to clock that this was only 2.5 years ago and even I in my 'speed everything up and stuff it all in' mindset haven't quite got as far as planning in decades-long marital anniversaries.
But it was in fact – the anniversary of my longest friendship – 40 years since I first met Claire Smith (as she then was, now Claire White) at Coombe Hill Infants School on 3rd September 1973. Of course, Claire is the only one of us who has any degree of memory, so having brought this to my hapless attention I then booked us into a Champneys for a day & a night of kid-free, girls-only spa, gym, pool (god only knows what we looked like in the Aqua class) and noshing.
And what's missing from this sentence – yes, my usual reference to a cocktail or six. Could not bloody believe it – Champneys is clearly strill living in the 1970s world of health retreats as they only offer a glass of wine with dinner – not a beer and definitely not a mojito in sight. Shock horror!!!
Thank god Claire knows some other mug who had been incarcerated there, so had the presence of mind to bring a bottle of rum, some cokes and a huge slab of Dairy Milk with her – another good reason we have stayed friends for 40 years. After which we then tucked into a bottle of champers just for good measure and to keep the staff in the restaurant watching our lone table till at least – coo or – 9.30pm.
Here's to us – can't believe neither of us has driven the other one potty over the years but instead we have been each others bridesmaids and are still raising a glass now as we did when we were 13 years old with our first vodka and orange begind the Surbiton Hockey Club bar (it was different in those days!)
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