Friends Re-united by St Margaret's at Cliffe Photo Diary

Sometimes, out of the blue comes something completely different and quite unexpected. A couple of days ago I got an e-mail with the simple title "Deirdre Waddington" and a first line that started "I know this is an appalling imposition". At this point I would normally hit the delete button, as this is exactly how most spams asking for money start. Fortunately I let my eye wander down the screen first and saw the words "Chapel Lane" hovering there. So I continued to read and I'm so glad I did. The e-mail was from a lady in North Vancouver, Canada, whose mother was a friend of the lady who lives in the bungalow at the corner of Chapel Lane and The Avenue, a bungalow that I drive past each time I leave our house. It seems that the two ladies have been friends since the second world war, when they served together in the W.R.C.N.S. Deirdre had written last August, but they hadn't heard since and Christmas had passed with no card or communication. Heather, the daughter of Deirdre's friend Aingelda was worried that something had happened to Deirdre and started to search the WEB for news of St Margaret's near Dover, and what should pop up at the top of the list but St Margaret's Photo Diary. A quick look at this and Heather found a picture of houses in Chapel Lane and contacted me. I quickly checked with Brian, one of Deirdre's neighbours, that all was well, and went to see her. We've said hello before but never had a long conversation, so it was a pleasure for me to sit and talk to such an interesting resident of St Margaret's, for about half an hour. She was of course surprised that I had come with the news, and, as I thought, she had as usual sent a Christmas Card, but I guess it got caught up in the Post Office dispute and is still sitting at the bottom of a sack somewhere. I took my camera with me so that I could send some proper evidence that all was OK. So it was with a feeling of satisfaction that I was able to e-mail Heather with the good news and the photos.

I got an e-mail by return that opened "How wonderful it was this morning to pass on the good news! Thank you so much. You gave a great boost to more than one person. Sending the picture was very thoughtful."

The power of the Internet is immense, it is often put to improper use and can cause huge problems but their are time when it works little wonders and it was a privilege to be able to help in this case.