BEST FRIENDS DESPITE A 54-YEAR AGE GAP

A 22-year-old woman and a 76-year-old retiree say becoming best friends has transformed their lives and challenged what they thought about each other's generations.

Iona Leaf met Judith Chapman at a church in Cheltenham when she was a student at the University of Gloucestershire and Judith was a church warden.

Despite a 54-year age gap and living 130 miles apart, the pair now spend a weekend together every month and have recently returned from a holiday in the Scottish Highlands.

They say they talk about everything, share a love of cooking, art and fashion, and have challenged stereotypes about their ages along the way.

Iona first noticed Judith because she "looked very colourful and very put together and just really interesting".

"I was kind of bewitched, like, 'who's this woman?'"

What began with visits to see Judith's cat, Maximus, soon grew into a close friendship.

"I started inviting myself for cups of tea so that I could stroke the cat," said Iona.

Having lived in Cheltenham for three years, she had never explored much of the surrounding Cotswolds.

"She kind of drove me around," she said.

Judith recalled thinking: "You can't have been at university in Cheltenham and not been to the Cotswolds, so I will be your chauffeur and take you around."

Later, Judith trusted Iona to cat-sit while she was away.

"I think that was how we kind of switched to the friendship," Iona said.

"It sounds as though it wasn't me, but it was the cat," joked Judith.

"The cat, unfortunately, died."

"But I only kept coming," replied Iona.

- Author: Alastair McKee, BBC

Read more...