holier than thou attitudes, forever talking about virtues, and constantly quoting from the Bible, ever even bothered to ask after me, or young Graham the youngest members of the men’s side whilst, I was in that critical state. Nor for that matter did any of the bankers, and wealthy middle class individuals, apart from Mr Stewart offer any material help whatsoever. I found out most vividly at that very young age that when the chips are down, there is a crucial point when one really discovers who ones true friends are. They are the ones that can rally round a weak soul mate in distress. Mother, when I had finally recovered and we could sit out in the warm March sun in the garden, under the camp wall, sheltering from the cold Siberian wind, with the bright blue speedwell flowers and daisies bursting all around us, summed it up most eloquently and right to the point in her usual direct succinct manner:
“ Never forget and always appreciate loyalty. Friendship is nothing until it has been tempered and tested by a severe trauma. It is when such a trial occurs that a window opens, and it is only then that you can see, and only then that you can realise who are your true friends. Are they going to be members of your family, your wife, your parents or your children? You cannot say beforehand. Will they be grand and wealthy people? Or maybe they are just rough necks and vagabonds? No one can say until you have put them to the test, and it is only then, when you are in real trouble for whatever reason, whether health, money, or family problems, that you will discover who wants to help, and who will turn their heads away when you are all alone. In other words one has to wait until the chips are down in a crisis to ascertain the real worth between a jolly acquaintance, any member of ones family, and a true honest loyal friend whose worth will then shine incandescently like a brilliant diamond or a lighthouse on a dark rocky coast. Those rare people, with a solidity and a backbone of steel to help support you in a crisis, must be cherished, ever honoured , and be sanctified in ones heart until the day you die. The rest are a mere riffraff, passers by, spineless inconsiderate weaklings and are an irrelevance not even worth the effort of having a feeling of disgust. Being ill and alone as you have been in such a crisis, has had its silver lining in helping you to understand and appreciate the true value of friendship and loyalty.”
