Reader Roisin looks back to a summer - and a friendship - she will never forget.
Roisin says:
The summer I turned thirteen was the best summer ever. My best friend Cara and I had planned it all... we wanted to fit as much fun into the school holidays as possible. Bike rides, picnics, trips to the beach - we wanted a proper summer, something exciting and memorable. Neither of us were going away, so there was nothing to stop us.
The thing I remember most about that summer was the daisies, everywhere... we made daisy chains just the way we did when we first met as six year olds. We put daisy chains in our hair, wore them as bracelets and necklaces. It was like a private joke between us, or a pact. It was our summer trademark.
We had daisy chains in our hair the first time we met Lewis and Pete. They were brothers, aged fourteen and sixteen, on holiday for two weeks with their grandparents at our sleepy seaside town, and we met them on their first night here. Straight away it was clear that Pete liked Cara, and Lewis and I were happy to flirt a bit even though we knew that basically we were just friends. We were inseparable for that fortnight, and every day seemed to etch itself into my memory. Bike rides up to the downs and picnics in fields scattered with wild flowers, beach bonfires after dark, swimming in the quiet coves Cara and I knew. I was almost sure that Cara was falling in love with Pete, and I was happy for her. I wondered if I would ever be as happy again.
The summer turned sour when Lewis and Pete left. Cara fell into a depression, lost all interest in doing anything. I thought she was just missing Pete, but one day she confessed that her parents were moving to South Wales in September. They'd kept quiet about it because they knew she'd be upset. It's two years now since Cara left, and though I still have good friends I will never have a friend like her. We kept in touch to begin with, but I found it hard to hear about her new friends and her new exciting life, and to my shame I stopped answering her messages. I let her go. She was like my sister, my other self, and we shared the best summer together. When I look back, it's not the silly, childish flirting with Lewis and Pete I remember, but those long daisy chain days and a friendship I thought would never end.
And every time I see daisies, I think of Cara.
Fab pics by 'Zoella Fan' - model unknown. Thank you!
Cathy says:
Do YOU have a friendship story, happy or sad, to share? Email me though the 'email Cathy' link on cathycassidy.com or COMMENT BELOW to tell us more!
Roisin says:
The thing I remember most about that summer was the daisies, everywhere... we made daisy chains just the way we did when we first met as six year olds. We put daisy chains in our hair, wore them as bracelets and necklaces. It was like a private joke between us, or a pact. It was our summer trademark.
We had daisy chains in our hair the first time we met Lewis and Pete. They were brothers, aged fourteen and sixteen, on holiday for two weeks with their grandparents at our sleepy seaside town, and we met them on their first night here. Straight away it was clear that Pete liked Cara, and Lewis and I were happy to flirt a bit even though we knew that basically we were just friends. We were inseparable for that fortnight, and every day seemed to etch itself into my memory. Bike rides up to the downs and picnics in fields scattered with wild flowers, beach bonfires after dark, swimming in the quiet coves Cara and I knew. I was almost sure that Cara was falling in love with Pete, and I was happy for her. I wondered if I would ever be as happy again.
And every time I see daisies, I think of Cara.
Fab pics by 'Zoella Fan' - model unknown. Thank you!
Cathy says:
Do YOU have a friendship story, happy or sad, to share? Email me though the 'email Cathy' link on cathycassidy.com or COMMENT BELOW to tell us more!
i have a lot of sad stories :-). This one is soooo sad though :-(
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