a call from an old friend out of the blue

london 3.31pm 18C cloudy saturday 2020

i was really surprised to get a overseas phone call this morning. it was from an old friend, old in the sense of long ago, not in age, though he is 55yrs old now. last i heard from him was that he was living in miami, with his boyfriend. now he tells me he is in cape town, and had been there for 4 yrs. so it has been that long, maybe even longer that i last talked to him.

anyway i nearly missed taking his call, because my landline phone has a safeguard to prevent cold callers. it asks callers to identify themselves and then ask me if i want to allow that call. i could not make out the name but decided to allow this call just once, and glad i did, otherwise i would not have talked to him. he works for a large international hotel chain, and this was a posting to cape town, south africa. and like everyone in the hotel business, his business has been  affected by the pandemic. i have lost touch with friends, mostly my fault, because i just dont bother to remember birthdays and so dont keep in touch. i sometimes wonder if some of them have died, and i would not know of it.  it was nice to catch up with him. i daresay he must be glad i am still alive. haha.

he told me he has another long time friend of his, living in mayfair, but he is not answering his phone and he wonders whether he is alive. esp since the last time they talked he had health problems, and he thinks he is in his 80s.