Tweet16-07-2010 om 00:03 by Sueli Brodin

This summer we will pass through the city of Tours on our way to our holiday destination on the French Atlantic coast. “That’s the place where I spent my teenage years,” I told my children, “and we’ll make a short stop there to visit some dear friends of mine whom I have seen for more than 20 years.”



My friends Patricia (left) and Christèle (right), 1983

“Were they your best friends?” my son Tim asked me, “like Thomas and me?”



Thomas was three and Tim only two when they met at the local playground. Thomas says that their friendship started when Tim asked him: “Shall we play together?” and he thought it was a good idea.

They would spend entire afternoons playing together. Every time Thomas was at the playground, Tim’s natural shyness would vanish and the only sounds Thomas’ mother and I could hear were our two boys’ happy chatter and laughter.



Thomas started school the following year and Tim was very impatient to join him. When he finally turned four, he was overjoyed when he found himself in the same class as his friend. (The two first years are mixed at the local school).



After school and during weekends, they would continue to play together at the various playgrounds in the neighbourhood. They always undertook new projects together and set themselves new challenges.





Thomas’s younger brother Jasper and Tim’s sister Naomi are the same age and very close friends too. Just like Tim and Thomas, they have always been in the same class at school. Thomas’ mother and I sometimes joke that the four of them are like a street gang.

Tim and Thomas share countless hobbies together: playing lego, fishing, drawing, riding the go-kart, observing small animals in nature, cooking, making and building things, telling each other funny stories…



They practise judo at the same club and in the same group. There isn’t any hint of competition between them. They enjoy fighting against each other, also during the annual tournament, and feel proud of the one who wins.



For the past nine years now, the simple mention of Thomas’ name puts a broad smile on Tim’s face.

Thomas says that what he likes about Tim is that Tim doesn’t brag and is always in for a good laugh. Tim says that Thomas is kind and funny.

I can’t remember them ever having had an argument, but when I asked them, they said that it did happen sometimes, although not more than “once a year” and that they always made up very quickly.

“What do you argue about?” I wondered. “Oh,” they laughed, “about what we’re going to do, or how we’re going to do it, or what we’re going to eat… Haha, quite silly actually!”



Tim says he likes: "drawing with Thomas, playing outdoors with Thomas, doing handy work with Thomas."

At school they are known as “Tim and Thomas”. Tim’s teachers always mention their special friendship in his school reports: “Tim, you are very good friends with Thomas. You enjoy being with him and it is a nice thing to see.”



Their friendship however is not exclusive. Lately, Tim and Thomas have been running a comics project with two common friends. They spend a lot of time drawing, making up jokes and publishing their work on their website.



After the summer holiday, they will start their last year at the local primary school and hope to go to the same secondary school afterwards. “It would be a pity if we couldn’t stay together,” sighs Tim. “Don’t worry Tim,” Thomas reassures him, “even if it doesn’t work out, we’ll see each other in the weekends.”

“We’ll always stay friends, and when we grow up, we’ll build our own houses and be neighbours.”

Every day when I see them, I think that Tim and Thomas share a beautiful and unique friendship, and I am glad we’ve made it possible by living in the same village since Tim was born.

As for me, I very much look forward to seeing my youth friends in France this summer and think that we’ll be able to pick up things just where we left them, so many years ago.


Friendship is to feel joy at the thought of one another, even when we don’t see each other very often. (Paul Geerts)

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