Childhood best friends who shared a wedding dress reunited after 50 years apart
A pair of childhood best friends, who shared the same wedding dress, have been reunited after losing contact over five decades ago.
Mavis Macleod, 83, and Eileen Triffitt, 82, were neighbours in 1946 and saw their friendship blossom over the years.
The duo spent their childhoods playing and dancing together in Liverpool, Merseyside, with Macleod even borrowing Triffitt's wedding dress when she got married.
But in their late 20s the friends lost touch after Triffitt moved to Harrogate, Yorkshire.
Over 50 years passed with the pair not having any contact with one another, until Triffitt found an old address book in her attack and decided to try to get in touch with her childhood friend.
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The grandmother couldn't believe it when she telephoned the number and Macleod, a retired navy cook answered the phone.
After an emotional call in 2017, the pair were reunited, with both claiming it was like they'd never been apart.
Now, the friends speak once a week and visit one another when they can, including for Macleod's 80th birthday.
"When I found the little address book in the loft and it had a number for her, I thought, 'Why not try calling?'" Triffitt explains.
"After she answered I said, I'm terribly sorry to bother you but this used to be the number for my friend Mavis.
"There was a pause and then she said, 'My name's Mavis' and I was completely gobsmacked.
"It was just so wonderful, words can't describe how I felt."
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Both women have described their joy at finding each other again.
"I was over the moon when she rang, we were known as the neighbours who never stopped dancing," Macleod says.
"When Eileen moved to Harrogate we kept in touch for a bit by writing letters but not very often.
"I just couldn't believe it when she called me, it was a real blast from the past.
"Now we speak at least once a week, we talk about everyone we used to know as children."
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The pals first bonded when they moved in next door to each other in aged six and seven.
"I remember when she moved in and I thought, 'Oh, good a new friend'," Macleod explains.
"We both loved to dance, and we joined a dance school together when we were a bit older.
"I always preferred ballet, and Eileen preferred tap dancing, and one year we spent our summer holidays going over to New Brighton to do a dance show.
"At the end of the summer we were paid five shillings, which we were both very pleased about."
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The duo remained close throughout their 20s, with Triffitt even lending Macleod her wedding dress to get married in.
"When Eileen got married I had already joined the Wrens, and I wasn't able to get the time off to go," Macleod explains.
"I got married a few years later to a man I met in the navy, but he was based in Gibraltar.
"Eileen gave me her wedding dress so I didn't have to spend money on a new one."
In their time apart, Macleod says she often wondered what Eileen was up to.
"I quite often thought about what she was up to, especially if there was dancing on the television," she says.
"That always made me think of Eileen and wonder how she was getting on."
Triffitt adds: "When we did reconnect, it was like nothing had changed, we almost picked up where we left off.
"Meeting up in person was amazing, I was lost for words.
"I remember when she came to Harrogate, it just felt like we hadn't had enough time together, it never does."
Additional reporting Caters.
