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Old friends

I've just sat and balled (no change there really) at Lady Thatcher (a little different maybe).

I've been watching Ronald Reagan's funeral. And among all the tributes (that are still flowing as I type), Lady Thatcher's stands out for a couple of reasons.

I guess first it harkens back to my earliest memories of world politics, of going to bed at night scared that there might be a nuclear war. Not sure that I trusted Reagan to keep me safe, not aware of the immense changes which would hit the world just four or five years later. Hearing Maggie talk about those times kind of affirms my right lack of trust and heightens my cynicism about looking back with rose tinted glasses. But it also brought home to me that these two now old (well one now dead) people, were friends. Ronnie (to use Maggie's affectionate phrase) WANTED Lady Thatcher, (that feisty old sort who stole my school milk (for which I am grateful by the way!) to speak at his funeral. They were mates! Two world leaders who had a depth of friendship that went to the grave.

It kind of inspires me- that no matter what- no matter where this funny old journey goes.. no matter which shoulders I rub against, I want to be in friendship with people. I don't wnat a series of networking colleagues, I want friends. As I hear the ongoing blah from the TV next door I hear the sounds of those obliged to be friends. But in Maggie T I hear an old lady who is remembering an old friend, who is no more.

Why that makes me sad I don't know.

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