Everyone seems to have a best friend, but how does one honour just one person with that esteemed title? Most people have plenty of very good friends (I know I do), so how does one choose from amongst them?
Is it the one you see the most often? Is it the one you've known the longest? Or could it be the one who thinks and acts in a way that is most like yourself?
In my case I had to think quite hard about who I would nominate, then having recently received an Email from a life-long friend, I knew immediately who mine would be.
We don't see each other that often, in fact we hardly see each other at all, but we still remain the firmest of friends.
Michael Cole and I met at Prep' School. We were probably about 6 years old, wearing short trousers, and still learning that 2+2=4, and how to spell 'Cat'. We stayed together at The Abbey, until we parted company at the age of 14 when he went to his upper school in Kent, and I went off to Cambridgeshire.
Michael became the world's top Tennis Photographer. Even if you don't follow Tennis, you will more than likely have seen some of his photos. His work has always been brilliant.
Like his father before him, Michael is also a dedicated 'petrol head'. When we were still together at The Abbey, his father owned a gorgeous Mercedes 300 SL (the famous one with the gull wings). Michael himself has owned a variety of cars that would even have made Lord Montagu jealous.
There has just been a new book published about his 40 year career, mostly at Wimbledon, Roland Garros, and Flushing Meadows. If you are interested in Tennis (or even if you're not), the link is below.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Michael-Cole-Shotmaster-Professional-Photography/dp/1913089509/ref=sr_1_2?rcrid=2CQ9X9OX7686C&keywords=shot+master+tennis+book&qid=1686899535&sprefix=shot+master+tennis+book%2Caps%2C69&sr=8-2
p.s. A few years ago Michael and I were going round a 'Boot Sale' together, and I was rushing ahead as usual. When we got together again he scolded me saying "you just missed Steffi Graf". She had apparently come up behind him and they'd spent a while chatting. C'est la vie; I missed her!
Fascinating. Seriously. I've been trying to answer the question for myself and I don't know the answer - now. The most obvious candidates are all dead. I have, however, driven a gullwing Mercedes.
ReplyDeleteI remember going a few hundred yards in Michael's father's 300 SL, and feeling on top of the world. He later swapped it for a 'speedboat', which rotted away.
DeleteMy choice is easy. I've only got one good friend left and she's the best. She speaks the same language for a start and has a refreshingly droll look at life here.
ReplyDeleteSounds perfect.
DeleteI don't think I have a "best friend" these days just a very small circle of kind people who are friends. My best friend from school days sadly died young and I haven't become close to anyone else since moving from country to country..
ReplyDeleteA true 'best friend' would be hard to replace. Actually I think a small group of good friends is probably best.
DeleteI don't have a best friend. In school I was too shy amongst so many kids. Since then I moved around too much and was always awkward, not knowing how to join a group knwoing I would be moving on again as soon as Hubby got his new orders. He was a soldier, that's why we moved a lot. I know many of my neighbours here now but none I would consider a best friend.
ReplyDeleteThese days it's hard to find people who haven't moved around a lot. Out here a lot of people were born on a farm, worked their whole lives there, and eventually died there; but I think that's becoming quite rare these days,
DeleteI have a 'womb to tomb' friend. I've known her since the day I was born. Going on 63 years now.
ReplyDeleteIs this a 'twin'? I like your term 'womb to tomb'.
DeleteNot a twin. We were born 3 months apart. Her mum was my mum's bridesmaid.
DeleteAh! My Mum's best friend went by the wonderful name of Pud Cumpsty.
DeleteMy husband is my best friend. I've known him since I was 17. I have more acquaintances than friends.
ReplyDeleteI think you're very lucky. Not many people would say their 'spouse' was their best friend.
DeleteI had a best friend who died six years ago...he always joked that we had been friends longer than he'd known his wife..but it's that easy friendship that distance and time don't affect , every time we met, over 44 years.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that anyone else has got near that easy relaxed presence
It's a shame to lose someone who has been that close, but someone always has to be the first to go.
DeleteMy "best" friends - I'd call my lifelong friends. I've had the same three or four for many, many years, are mostly "lost" to me now. Two have succumbed to Alzheimer's - one in the UK I still hear about from her husband, and the second I visit but come away crying at the loss of a brilliant mind, and wasted body. Another friend is difficult to keep in contact with because she no longer uses a computer, so we exchange letters probably two or three times a year. Other than that I have, like Jaycee, a small circle of kind people who are friends.
ReplyDeleteAge robs you of many things and after health, the loss of good friends is the hardest to bear
I lost a very good friend last year. I had never imagined that she would have gone before me; she was always so healthy and happy. You never know!
DeleteA fascinating life doing things he was passionate about,
ReplyDeleteHe was totally dedicated to his art. His reputation was well deserved.
DeleteI have 4 'dear friends' - 2 would be candidates for being a 'bestie'... one I've known since the 4th grade and went to grammar school, high school, and college together (and were in each other's weddings). The other I've known over 50 years, shared our early child-raising together, and used to meet every week for coffee until age and loss of mobility put a stop to that. We still talk each week. The thought of losing any one of these is painful. But since we're all close to or at 80...
ReplyDeleteSadly the inevitable is ahead of us all. I just pray that the fewer funerals I attend, the better.
DeleteMichael sounds like a gem of a best friend. My best friend died a few years ago. I have many acquaintances and a circle of friends that share common interests. Best friends are usually a one-of-a-kind sort of soulmate. Lovely and important people.
ReplyDeleteYes, a best friend should always be special. I'm very lucky, having some extremely interesting friends, and I had a few who have just disappeared over the years. Even in these days of social media, many are still not easy to find.
DeleteSadly although my first school friend and I still communicate regularly we now have little or nothing in common having led completely different lives. My best friends are undoubtedly the two I have now who are so kind to me and with whom I can chat for hours.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mention my other best friend who, of course, is my oldest; Kimbo. He is such a bonus in our lives. I'm very lucky.
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