Memories of my teens

Seems like only yesterday I bet!
I only keep in contact with a couple of girls from college days, though I often think of them all, we lived in student accommodation, and had lots of good times, and lots of rows!
One of the girls, was my best friend, the other girl, lived with her family who completely welcomed me into their home, they were to me then, very posh, I loved them all
I don’t see them often, but I’d hate to lose touch

NanKate you are so right about keeping in touch with old friends.I haven't been very good at keeping up with secondary school friends and like you corresponded with only one at Christmas.Three years ago we decided to meet up in Oxford with someone else she had kept in touch with. It was FIFTY ONE years since we had met.I was a bit apprehensive but I recognised both of them straight away and within minutes we were back in those happy days.The next year we met again and another friend from those days joined us and last year we did the same with yet another "old girl" making five in all. I am looking forward to this year.

That's sad kate.

That sounds lovely Greenfinch

As I said, I’ve lost touch with all but two, one I see often, the other, we email all the time, and always talk about meeting up, but we never seem to get around to it!

I haven’t seen her for over 40 years, but I still think of her as a teenager

My mid teens to early twenties were very special times, not always of course, but mostly.
That isn't to say othere times haven't been happy they were of course.
But teens are so full of hope, such fun and for me such a learning curve.
I mixed with girls way out of my narrow social class upbringing and I really embraced what I picked up.
It helped me so much in my mid 30' s onwards when our life changed/improved in so many ways.
I will always be grateful for those years and the lessons I learnt

Sara65 make this the year you meet up.It is such fun reminiscing about old teachers and old friends.It is surprising the news that can be shared and the old photos people can dig out .

Thanks for the encouragement Greenfinch, I’m sure we’d be hysterical with laughter in minutes, remembering our misspent youth!

This is very relevant for me - thanks NanKate for starting the thread.
I try to keep in touch with 'best friends' from different stages of my life. Sadly most seem to have passed on before me. But I'm still in regular phone and email correspondence with my closest friend during working days. She's not so well at the moment [sad}.
And my close friend when we were living in France. She's still there.
We're all in our early 80s.

Last year I heard that someone who had been my boyfriend nearly 55 years ago had died. It brought me up short and also made me feel very sad. He had emigrated but I always thought he was out there, somewhere. I wish we had kept in touch.

Thanks for all the great replies. Glad I am not the only one who thinks about those happy, carefree days of our youth. The great 1960s clothes, the music, the parties and just having fun. I was lucky and had great parents who allowed me some freedom.

I must admit I had a lucky escape as a year or so back I saw a photo of a chap I was besotted with. He hadn’t improved with age one bit and I am sure he would say the same about me ? I can't Imagine what I saw in him.

I met up with 3 school friends for the first time in 35 years last year, we all recognised each other immediately, and since then we have met up twice, each time not only sharing memories from school days, but talking about each of our lives now, it's been great, and I'm looking forward to meeting them all again in July.

You can always make new friends.

But you can't make old friends.

I lost touch with all my teenage friends and don’t expect any are still alive. I know some were killed during the war.

I am so lucky to still have so many friends from years ago, 2 are from Infants school, 3 from senior school and 2 from college days, plus a sprinkling of about 15 from various jobs along the way. Last month I was traced by another old school friend who is arranging a big class reunion in July, so that will be amazing to see friends from 50 years ago ! Am so looking forward to it ....

Having lost a friend and dear neighbour a few years ago, made me think about what you said. We moved into our house in 1976 they were new houses so more or less moved in about the same time. I had two children and so did she our dh got on as well. When the children were older we would attend there school dances, football, and cricket dances to through the 80s and early 90s we had so much fun.
They moved away after that and we lost touch a bit. I then heard she had died, I found it quite upsetting we had been through so much together. Lovely memories though

I moved away from my home country at the age of twenty, and I did not keep in touch with any of my school friends. I often think about them and if I am awake at night. I imagine them again as when we were all teenagers together. I think about how they looked and what their names were, and try really hard to remember their surnames, but I cannot.
My husband died three years ago and recently I looked up one or two people from my youth on line. Most of the girls would have changed their names on marriage, of course. I only found one person who I knew then, an old flame, and he has become quite famous as an author. Unfortunately I also found out that he lost a leg after contracting MRSA following an operation in a hospital. . I just cannot imagine that lovely young as an old man with only one leg. It was interesting to read about how his life has been, and he had three children.

My teens and early 20s were times of worry for me. Exams, work and so on. I was never a wild thing. My 40s were much better. Happy and settled and having a lot of fun at work as well as job satisfaction and having the chance to travel.

When we were little my cousin and I were best friends, in and out of each other’s houses all the time, then she moved away in her twenties, and I haven’t seen her since

I recently had a letter from my very elderly aunt, to say she’d suddenly died

I was amazed at how sad I felt, I couldn’t stop thinking about when we were little girls, and how close we were, it’s dredged up so many happy memories, but I feel so sad we hadn’t kept in touch

I was a 'good girl' in my teens. Wasn't allowed to go out dancing on a Saturday night with my friends. I was quite shy so that didn't bother me too much. I was bookish and liked school on the whole once I was able to give up 'domestic science', art and music which consisted of singing soppy songs and I was no singer! I had a granny and other relatives just round the corner - a safe haven if I was out of favour for some reason! I went everywhere on my trusty bike, spending time in the summer on tennis courts or on the beach. A good place to grow up.

NanKate. I’m sorry to hear about your friend. What a horrible shock.
I have lost contact with all my school friends from the 60s and 70s, which is rather sad. However, I have stayed in contact with 5 of my friends I met at Teacher Training College in 1970. For the last few years I have met up with 3 of them for a whole night away in a Travelodge and we have talked, laughed and remembered the good old days almost non-stop for the whole 24 +hours! We usually go to a NT place, but this year decided we didn’t need an attraction to visit, just a Weatherspoons or similar to chat, remember and talk about our families in general. I can’t wait until our next get together in September. Can’t believe it will be 50 years next year since we all met at the ages of 18 and 19 but am so grateful we are still in regular contact via email, cards and our annual meetings.

On Sunday evening our house phone rang (a rare occurence) and my husband answered. A femail voice said you dont know me but does Daisy still live there? I am a voice from the past. It turned out be be my old friend L. We first met at school when we were 11 and the met again when we were married and both moved to the same area. We were very close when the children were young but then I moved away to a different part of the country. We still kept in touch and even since we moved abroad. But a few years ago the Christmas cards dried up from quite a few friends. Talking on the phone it was as though we had only seen each other a few weeks ago. Good to reminisce about the old days.

I still count my teenage bestie as my closest friend. We now live 2 hrs apart but speak often and visit each other. Our DH's get on well too which is lovely.
I would be devastated to hear she had died. My sympathies for your loss Kate I hope your memories bring comfort.

Some friendships stay and some go. My parents were friendly with my best friend’s parents and we kept in touch after we left school even though we were in different parts of the country. I don’t know if the link came to a natural end after both sets of parents died but she just suddenly seemed to drop out of contact. I sent a card for a significant birthday but got no response when it was my own. I think you have to make a real effort to keep up with people especially if they don’t live close. Newer friendships take over as you move through life

It seems some friendships come to a natural end, whilst others are more resilient, Lovely to hear so many of you still have childhood friends, it’s good to share memories