Friends reunite after 75 years when they move into same care home
A pair of nonagenarians who lost touch with each other 75 years ago have been reunited after they moved into the same care home.
Beryl Goodburn, 95, and Peggy Rouse, 97, first became friends in their teens when they both worked at a cable manufacturer in Kent, UK. They became fast friends, even taking holidays together – but soon lost contact during World War II.
“I married in 1941 and left the company to have my first child,” Peggy told the Kent Messenger. “Our lives were so totally different during the war we just lost touch.”
Peggy Rouse and Beryl Goodburn in their younger days.
But as luck would have it, 75 years after they first struck up their friendship, the two have been reunited when they both moved into Hollies residential care home in Gravesend.
“I couldn’t believe it when I walked in here and just recognised her so well,” said Peggy. “I was absolutely gobsmacked when I saw her sitting here.
“I thought ‘I can’t believe it, after all these years’. It was like a miracle,” Beryl agreed. “I thought to myself ‘I know that lady’. Then she turned around, she looked at me and said ‘Beryl?’ and I said ‘Peggy?’
“It was wonderful.”
The nonagenarians have been busy getting reacquainted and reminiscing about the good old times.
“There can’t be many of us still around who are in their 90s and worked at that time at Henley’s,” said Peggy, adding, “But life is busy enough that we don’t want to talk just about Henley’s. It’s taken me a time to settle in, but Beryl being here is an added bonus.”
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