Friday Coffee with Friends

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When we lived in Melbourne I had coffee with a group of friends every Friday morning.  Most of us met when our eldest children were in the same class in their first year of school. We discussed relationships and kids, jobs and local events - all the things ordinarily discussed by mums over a cup of coffee.  I still miss Alison, Sue, Margaret, Nada and Anne.  I sometimes wish I had a time machine to go back to those wonderful times when our children were small.

When we decided to move to Adelaide in 2008 I wondered if I would ever make new friends as good as my coffee friends in Melbourne.

I remember entering my younger children's new primary school at the end of their first day of school in Adelaide.  It was a cold, bleak August day and I walked into the schoolyard anxiously bracing myself to speak to someone, anyone, and introduce myself.  I had encouraged my children to try to make friends, and I knew that I had to make an effort also.

The first person I spoke to was Chris, who introduced me to her sister Carly.  They invited me to join a group of their friends who regularly met for coffee.  I had heard that Adelaide people could be unfriendly and insular, but this was not my experience.  This lovely group of women welcomed me with great kindness and generosity.

In the five years since we moved to Adelaide, Chris and Carly have become two of my dearest friends.  We still meet for coffee on a Friday morning, along with Gill, Emma, and Andrea.  Sometimes we are joined by Char, Amanda, Lisa and others.

I am so grateful to my current coffee friends and coffee friends from days gone by.  They have smoothed my pathway through motherhood and and provided much-needed friendship and encouragement.