Chapter 31

The evening of Dora’s fiftieth birthday was blustery, cold and raining but it didn’t matter one iota because everyone she cared for was there with her. Her mother and aunt and new-found friends and the rest of the Afternoon Tea Club were filing into one of the meeting rooms, at Borough Community Centre, chattering and giggling, for the end-of-year get-together with Eileen and Taynor before everyone went their separate ways, after Dora’s party, for their respective Christmases.

It felt cramped in this new room and everyone was fidgeting because, in all honesty, they all had better things to do! They had their party frocks or suits on and simply wanted to party with Dora, next door, and drink something fizzily alcoholic. But when Eileen asked for some quiet, everyone did quieten down.

‘Right now Taynor and I are so pleased to see everyone from the Afternoon Tea Club as well as new faces connected to Dora’s fiftieth birthday party. I can already see that it would be safe to assume that everyone has gained something from what started out as an idea from my mother, who was bored with her afternoons of not very much to do. Would that be correct?’

People clapped, and there were cries of, ‘Hear, hear.’

‘Well, she’s here again, tonight. So please welcome my mother, Veronica!’

‘Yeah Veronica!’ everyone cried.

Raymond had been roped in to help manoeuvre Veronica through the crowds to where her daughter and Taynor stood.

‘Thank you! Thank you, kind people. Well, I never expected to get such a wonderful response to my suggestion that as you get older you still need something to do with your time. I’ve heard some wonderful stories that have sprung from the formation of the Afternoon Tea Club. People making new friends or finding old ones. It has certainly been an eye-opener and I’m so pleased to be here again today to witness some of these amazing unions – all of it because of one small suggestion. But now I’m going to pass you over to my daughter so we can get on with the business of the evening. Over to you, Eileen …’

‘Okay everyone. Right now let’s get straight down to business and then we can be out of here, PDQ! So everyone’s given me feedback regarding their courses, which is great. So with the computing and internet, a lot of you have already dabbled and now just need certain pointers. A few of you haven’t tried it yet but want to learn but can’t do both days. So we’ve decided to change the computer courses and just do the one afternoon on the first Thursday of each month, so we don’t get mixed up with the art classes on the Fridays. And quite a few of you have signed up for swimming and that’s doing well. The art courses are okay and everyone is also happy with the two afternoon tea sessions. Great. So, a revised timetable will be sent to everyone by the end of the year and we’ll get the London trip arranged as well as the price for that and include it with your revised timetables.’

Eileen paused to shuffle through her paperwork. ‘Now! We’re compiling a new database of all your names and contact numbers so from next year anything new will be sent to yourselves directly via email or by phone. We do have a lot of your contacts already, of course. But please let us know of any changes to your personal details and please let us know if you have any other suggestions in order to make the Afternoon Tea Club an even better experience for everyone. So that’s it, folks. Oh and just to let you know Taynor will be going on maternity leave in the coming months, in preparation for the baby she’s expecting around mid to late April next year. So congratulations are in order since she and her husband will be having their first child.’

‘Congratulations, Taynor!’ people shouted.

Eileen chuckled. The people in that room were certainly a lot livelier than they had been at the first Afternoon Tea Club meeting. In fact, her bosses and the community in general had welcomed the whole concept with open arms. More and more people were starting to hear about it, now, and asking about the kind of things on offer for their ageing and homebound community.

‘Anyway, back to the here and now. Before we totter in to enjoy ourselves next door, would anyone be prepared to come up to the front and tell me how they think the Afternoon Tea Club has changed their lives? I will be videoing this for my bosses – wave to the camera man in the corner over there – to prove how successful this whole process has been so far because, as a club, we are certainly going from strength to strength!’

At first no one said anything. Then Dora coughed and walked to the front to stand next to Eileen.

‘Yes, I think quite a few of us have been changed by this experience, haven’t we, guys?’ Dora said looking first at Marjorie and then at Raymond and then finding Stacy, in the crowd, standing next to her new boyfriend, John, and then waving them over. They had also been changed by it, so they walked to the front of the gathering and stood next to Dora.

‘I really didn’t know what to expect when I came along. I don’t think I came to the first meet. I was down here with my mother visiting my aunt when I spotted the flyer and came in for a nose. I had a life but didn’t really know who I was and certain circumstances were beyond my control so I was pretty much in free fall. The people around me, whom you see today, caught me before I fell even further,’ Dora said.

Marjorie took her lead from Dora. ‘Yes, life has been a trial for me too. Same as a lot of people I shouldn’t wonder because we all have our crosses to bear, don’t we, folks?’

There was head-nodding and murmurs in agreement.

‘So I’ve recently had to learn how to live by myself again and I will admit it has been difficult. I also know that I would not have succeeded in this transition if it wasn’t for the new friends around me who I met because of the Afternoon Tea Club. Another thing I’ve learned is that it doesn’t matter who you are or what age you are, you can still make friends. My two closest friends are different ages to me. The age gap between me and the lovely Stacy over there is fifty-six years and the age gap between me and my other friend, the wonderful birthday girl Dora, is thirty-two. I didn’t think that sort of thing could actually work out. But it has. At one time I thought age mattered when choosing friends. But it truly, truly doesn’t, folks.’

Raymond then nodded. ‘I agree completely with what these two ladies have said because I was becoming insular after my darling wife died. I couldn’t see any way forward. My son was a great help but then he had his own problems in life. But by meeting these people around us, I feel I have taken on a new lease of life. We go out for meals. They are supportive. They’re great fun.’

Stacy, standing next to Raymond, also nodded. ‘The best thing I’ve done in a long time was to put my fears of rejection aside and strike out, making the new friends I’ve made here. I had, literally, no one until I met them. They have helped me through my own very stressful and transitional period in my life. And so the Afternoon Tea Club must continue doing what it does best. It joins people together. And when people feel connected they also feel valued and when they feel valued, it gives them the confidence to reach out and accomplish anything they darn well want to do in life.’