Tuesday 11 May 2010

A LITTLE PIECE OF ME, LOST, FOUND & RETURNED

Some years ago, my friend Wendy,who I have known since I was three years old, gave me a birthday gift. It was delicately wrapped in tissue paper, tied with an exquisite ribbon and handed to me gently with an air of reverance. When I opened the present, it was the book in the picture - When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne - a book of poetry. I was, completely overjoyed and overwhelmed. This book had been mine when I was a little girl. On the cover is my name, written in my 8 year old handwriting and inside, my address. Between the pages, Wendy had placed lots of silvery glittery things which sprayed out as I turned them. I could hardly believe this relic of my childhood had been returned. Wendy simply said 'I've been looking after it for you'. A little piece of my own personal history - lost, found and returned to me by a lifelong friend. A treasure. There is a distance between Wendy & I now. I'm not even sure how it got there. I will always count her as one of my closest friends, despite the distance.

14 comments:

  1. How great to get that treasure back! One of my favorite childhood books for sure. Getting your own copy back is precious!
    Kim

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  2. Lovely book, lovely story, a real treasure!

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  3. Oh how precious - I have the family copies of that book plus Now we are six and Whinnie the pooh ( sad to say, I think they are in the loft )
    Maybe you could get in touch with your friend if it's lingering there. My very oldest friends did not keep in touch with me though I tried to keep in touch. When I went abroad they lost interest & my mum movrd so I never went back to where I'd grown up much. Sad though.

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  4. what a beautiful bittersweet post. and you have this book, a wonderful remembrance that you both shared, just lovely. thank you!

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  5. What a special treasure. Something that you will cherish forever. I got shivers reading about this little gift!

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  6. A very touching post! It is these things in life that make it so beautiful!

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  7. Such a lovely book to be returned (which your friend did, after all, withold from you all those years with no explanation, humph!!!). Friendships are funny old things, and rarely equal. Sometimes things just are as they are meant to be, however hard you might try. xx

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  8. Such a beautiful, thoughtful gift to receive. How wonderful :)

    My eldest daughter now has my battered old copy of Winnie the Pooh which has my handwritten name inside the cover. I always remember Jackanory reading from the book and my running upstairs to get my copy and read along :P

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  9. What a wonderful story. Such treasures as the book and a long-time friend. How lucky you are.

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  10. How lovely that she took gave this special memory to you in such a way, Its sad you have that distance now but life has its ways of changing things
    hugs and thanks for sharing with us
    june xxx

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  11. What a sweet story~ this book must have brought back many memories for you...

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  12. This is a wonderful memory I bet you were thrilled to bits that she made the effort to return this item you never know what the future holds .I recently made a phone call to a good friend I had 40 years ago and lost after her ex husband contacted me through friends reunited such is the marvel of the internet.I could not have been more pleased.So one never knows there is time yet to rekindle a friendship I wish you well life is full of surprises.

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  13. Thankyou for sharing this lovely bittersweet piece of your life. I think it was a lovely and brave thing your friend did returning the book after such a long time. She could have kept it (or worse thrown it away) and you would have been none the wiser.

    Although there is distance between you now, your life is still richer for the memories you have of how things were when you were so close.

    Hugs
    Lesley Xx

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