Happy ending as Telford friends reunited
They were the best of the friends 43 years ago, and when they lost touch they thought it was going to be forever.
But when a picture of Gillian Davies and Sandra Morris was uploaded to social media, they were reunited within only a few minutes.
Sandra, 62, shared her old photo on the Telford Memories Facebook group, hoping that someone would be able to track down her old friend.
Little did she know Gillian, 63, was logging into the site just as she submitted her post.
"We were really good friends for such a short period and I wondered if she was still out there," Sandra said. "It was a spur of the moment sort of thing.
"Usually when you put something up on Facebook, you get other people reacting to it. People who say they remember that person. I never expected I'd hear off Gill, and it was so quickly as well."
Gill said: "I thought I'd have a quiet five minutes to log into Facebook, and when I opened it the photo was there.
"I'm a member of the Telford Memories page and the picture of us popped straight up on my newsfeed. After the initial surprise I realised Sandra was looking for me. It had only been up a few minutes – it was meant to be, I think."
The pair, who now both live in Telford, had been working together at Coventry Hood and Seating for about a year when Gillian moved away to Falmouth with her husband.
But despite having known each other for such a short time, they had become best friends, going on holiday and frequently visiting The Beacon in Wellington on Friday nights.
Mother-of-three Gill, who worked in accounting, said that in the days before social media, mobile phones or even the widespread use of house phones, the pair just fell out of touch.
"We came back to Shropshire two years later, but our paths didn't cross," Gill said.
"If we had mobiles, we wouldn't have lost touch, but in those days not every house had a phone. I never drove, I never had her address.
"But I kept everything. I had photos she didn't have, photos we took on holiday. I had even got the invoice on how much our holiday to Spain had cost – £77 each.
"In the short time we knew each other, we did so much. She wanted to model, so I took her to London. We made an outfit each to go on holiday with. There was so much we did in so little time."
Sandra, who has two daughters, said: "We relied on Gill's late husband to run us about at the time. Neither of us were on the phone. We didn't have it like to today with social media. It wasn't easy.
"I regret that we lost touch, but when you've got family, you move on to other things. It becomes your past rather than your future."
Las week they met again for the first time in more than four decades.
The pair said that it was just like old times, and that they quickly started recalling their favourite memories.
And with the power of social media behind them, they're both sure they will be able to stay in touch.
"Meeting Sandra again was amazing," Gill said. "And this time I've got her address."
