What makes a best friend a best friend?
Is it the fact that you find the same things funny in the same ways? How you can rely on each other in tough times? The ability to lend each other money and pay each other back on time? Nah, can’t be that last one.
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But best friends do have a way of sticking by each other through thick and thin.
And if life happens to get in the way, when they get back in touch they can always pick up where they left off as if no time has passed.
For this pair of besties, however, plenty of time has passed, and they’re just never going to be apart. Talk about friendship goals!
Kathleen Saville and Olive Woodward are pretty much the ultimate best friends forever.
Kathleen and Olive first met when they were both 11 years old, way back in 1941, the BBC reported.
Like so many best friends, they met in school, and bonded over playing games and teasing boys. Now, 78 years later, the two 89-year-olds are living in the same nursing home, with rooms on the same floor.
Kathleen says the time-tested friendship was never in doubt.
“We knew we would always be friends when we met. She means a lot to me,” she said. “If Olive goes first she’ll come back to fetch me. We’re going to be friends in heaven.”
She added that the secret to their friendship is that neither of them cares for arguing.
In all those 78 years, Olive and Kathleen have never lived more than a 10-minute walk apart.
However, Kathleen entered long-term care at Berry Hill Park Care Home in Mansfield. In that time, Olive visited regularly but became depressed. So, about a year and a half later, she moved into the home as well, and is now overjoyed that she can see Kathleen “all day every day.”
“If I’m unhappy or in trouble I only have to go to Kathleen and we’ll always end up laughing,” she said.
The pair were an immediate hit with the staff.
“The sparkle is still there. They are full of mischief. They never stop chatting and giggling,” said Sally Tebbett, Berry Hill Park’s home manager. “It’s so endearing, they genuinely love each other and you can see that.”
Kathleen has some advice for those who want to achieve the high bar she and Olive have set for friendship goals.
“Put yourself out and go and see your friend,” she said. “Don’t always wait for them to come and see you. It takes two to tango.”
