It is at times like this you realise who your real friends are - they are the ones that do not shy away from the situation we find ourselves in. Di and Rob were so lovely to take Mum out even though we were not there and she loved her time with them. Let's be fair it isn't everyone's idea of fun to lunch with a recently bereaved octogenarian but as Di so rightly said Mum loves to socialise and even if she has a bit of a wobble during conversation she is good company.
On Thursday we went for lunch with our friends and fellow pickleball players Liselotte and John. They too suggested that Mum join us which she did and, many thanks Mum, played taxi driver. What might have been an awkward coming together was made easy because they too are genuinely interested in Mum's company - they are not just being kind.
Today we were to meet up with some more very, very good friends in Jackie and Costas Pentalioti who have known Mum and Dad for nearly 30 years. It is an interesting story about how they became friends. Mum and Dad were newly living on the island when a very young Costas opened the first of his Tea For Two restaurants on the Tombs of the King Road - in fact the original restaurant was next door to where the current restaurant is situated. Mum and Dad were amongst some of their first customers (if not the first) and they struck up an unlikely friendship. Jackie was a young English girl in what was a much more foreign environment 30 years ago and she probably appreciated a friendly English face. Anyway to cut a long story short they remained friends and over the years the six of us have gone out regularly. Costas is hilarious - he used to tell my Dad some filthy jokes which Dad used to roar at - I would have thought he would have been offended but NO he was impressed by Costas's command of the English vernacular and his understanding of the English sense of humour.
We were so thrilled that they managed to make it to John's 50th birthday celebrations at Tsangarides Winery. This was, of course, Dad's 86th birthday and we sat Jackie and Costas with Mum and Dad and they really enjoyed themselves. Sadly they were away when Dad passed away. They were amongst the first people that I contacted although I had no idea they were actually in Australia at the time so that message would have reached them at some unearthly hour for which I apologised.
As soon as they returned from their holiday they wanted to meet up so we arranged to see them at Sonnys where Mum and Dad had celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary a couple of years ago - another occasion when Jackie and Costas were able to be part of our family celebrations. After the inevitably emotional first few minutes we sat down together and had a lovely evening. We have all known each other for so long that time flies by when we are together. They are insistent that we continue to meet up regularly so once they have returned from a brief trip to the UK we shall do it all over again.
On Thursday we went for lunch with our friends and fellow pickleball players Liselotte and John. They too suggested that Mum join us which she did and, many thanks Mum, played taxi driver. What might have been an awkward coming together was made easy because they too are genuinely interested in Mum's company - they are not just being kind.
Today we were to meet up with some more very, very good friends in Jackie and Costas Pentalioti who have known Mum and Dad for nearly 30 years. It is an interesting story about how they became friends. Mum and Dad were newly living on the island when a very young Costas opened the first of his Tea For Two restaurants on the Tombs of the King Road - in fact the original restaurant was next door to where the current restaurant is situated. Mum and Dad were amongst some of their first customers (if not the first) and they struck up an unlikely friendship. Jackie was a young English girl in what was a much more foreign environment 30 years ago and she probably appreciated a friendly English face. Anyway to cut a long story short they remained friends and over the years the six of us have gone out regularly. Costas is hilarious - he used to tell my Dad some filthy jokes which Dad used to roar at - I would have thought he would have been offended but NO he was impressed by Costas's command of the English vernacular and his understanding of the English sense of humour.
We were so thrilled that they managed to make it to John's 50th birthday celebrations at Tsangarides Winery. This was, of course, Dad's 86th birthday and we sat Jackie and Costas with Mum and Dad and they really enjoyed themselves. Sadly they were away when Dad passed away. They were amongst the first people that I contacted although I had no idea they were actually in Australia at the time so that message would have reached them at some unearthly hour for which I apologised.
As soon as they returned from their holiday they wanted to meet up so we arranged to see them at Sonnys where Mum and Dad had celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary a couple of years ago - another occasion when Jackie and Costas were able to be part of our family celebrations. After the inevitably emotional first few minutes we sat down together and had a lovely evening. We have all known each other for so long that time flies by when we are together. They are insistent that we continue to meet up regularly so once they have returned from a brief trip to the UK we shall do it all over again.
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