Good, long-established friendships, sadly, lose physical contact when you have to move.
Usually, but not always, the result of ageing and the need to be nearer family.
This is a true story of two friends preparing to say goodbye.
They live in the mountains of California, with fantastic views, in quite an isolated area, with increasingly dramatic temperature changes. This year, the severe drought has added the very real terror of forest fires and alarm calls for rapid evacuations. Sadly, some homes and animals were lost.
Margaret, a poet and writer, lives in the forest quite a way out of the nearest small town and its amenities.
She arrived there as a young city wife of 19. She thought she had died and gone to heaven. She took to rural life and the lack of so-called trappings of civilisation, like a duck to water.
She brought up her family, which included dogs and chickens.
She learned to grow food for the table and roses for her tender heart. Life was hard, but she remembers more good times than bad and always seemed to remain cheerful and helpful to others.
She had a friend called Celina who owned a small shop, magically filled with an amazing array of things to buy in the village. They became close, confidants, and friends.
Margaret adored her visits to Celina’s shop.
Sadly, after a prolonged illness, Margaret’s husband died, and she could no longer stay in the home they had shared.
Her daughter invited her to stay with her family in Oklahoma.
She mulled the idea over for a while; the thought of leaving most of her family and her beloved mountains were the biggest stumbling blocks. Yet she knew she could not cope with another winter, or summer where she was.
She put her home up for sale, and it went quite quickly. The buyer did not want her treasured potted plants. So she slowly transferred them to town for Celina. Together, they arranged them in the garden at the back of the shop. A place they had shared memories, good and bad, together. Surrounded by sweet-smelling flowers, small bushes, and cacti. They exchanged their goodbyes and tearfully promised to keep in touch, with the aid of technology in this modern age.
©️2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen
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