My other life and Christmas miracles

Yesterday I mentioned Washington, D.C., in my post about Schubert. Today a letter arrives from one of my Washington, D.C., friends. We are all dispersed now, Angela in England, gets a call from Trish in Australia, they talk about me, and here we are in a grand reunion that feels as if we've been having tea every afternoon for the last 30 years. Angela tells me she is something of a Luddite, has never had the Internet and can't follow my progress online. So she typed me a letter! Yes!!! She also enclosed a newspaper clipping.

David Walker was a great friend of mine. When my husband was killed, I called him from a public phone at Heathrow Airport telling him the news. He had met my husband (they were both economists) and after a shocked silence, he told me to hold tight and he would write and tell me what to do (he did). That was David: he would find a way to fix it. At the time, although it would change nothing for me, he was like a raft in the middle of a deadly choppy sea that I clung to. David, well, I should address him by his title I guess -- Sir David, it's a little shock to discover that someone you know has been knighted -- was one of those people who come into your life and pull you up to new heights. When I sat for the Oxford University  matriculation exams at his recommendation, he was appointed to handle it (I took the exams in Washington; I passed the exams but went to Trinity College Dublin instead; it was my destiny). At the time, he had been seconded from the Bank of England to the IMF. I had such good times with him and his family. Long story short, I lost touch with him when I came back to North America, and yet, here he is. I will have to find his email and say: Surprise!

And although Angela has no Internet, I will never fall out of touch with her again. As for Trish, she is the glue between us, all the way from Australia. I have never fallen out of touch with her.