The Gift of Friendship (Lisa and Sarah’s story)
Sarah and Lisa were introduced at a local café in May 1997 and began what they now consider a relationship of love, friendship and loyalty. Both women are in their thirties. Both have gentle natures, a sense of fun and need for one another.
Lisa and her husband Paul emigrated from South Africa to settle in Australia. They bought a house in Ryde and have been progressively carrying out renovations. Sarah lived most of her early life in Ryde, but inside the walls of an institution for people with disabilities. She now shares a house with four other people in Ryde. Lisa has two boys, Jacob and Max and loves all the joys, trials and excitement of motherhood. Sarah works at a veterinarian clinic and has many planned activities throughout her week.
Sarah and Lisa have been enriching each others lives since the moment they met. When asked about the best part of their friendship, Sarah laughingly says that Lisa “is crazy and talks too much. They (Lisa and her husband Paul) are always kissing and often go away for the weekend, I miss them ….because they are my friends”. Lisa on the other hand says that the best thing about being Sarah’s friend is her honestly and her ability to just be herself. “I find being with Sarah very relaxing and I have a lot to learn form her. She is a very special person with a great sense of humour. She is so full of life and we simply love her. I get so much more out of the relationship than what I put in”.
As Sarah has not ever met her own family, when Lisa was first introduced to Sarah, she was asked to be like a sister to her. Lisa had hoped to facilitate a meeting between Sarah and her mother. Through the birth of her own children, she has come to realise the pain and loss for Sarah in not having connections with her family. Sarah has now become a loved “aunty” to Lisa’s son’s, Jacob and Max. Through Lisa, Sarah is learning how to care for children and look out for their needs.
“With every
true friendship we build more firmly the foundations on which the peace of the
whole world rests” Mahatma Gandhi