MISSING . . . and FOUND!
THE DAILY MAIL offers readers a unique opportunity to re-establish contact with long-lost relatives and friends. Each week, MONICA PORTER features the story of someone trying to find a missing loved one, as well as a tale of people reunited. This column is produced in conjunction with the voluntary tracing service, Searching For A Memory, run by Gill and John Whitley.
FORMER nurse Maria Meerstadt, nee Ferbrache, wants to trace her fellow students at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, who started their training in May 1968.
‘The ties are still strong and it would be great if we could find our missing colleagues,’ says Maria, 68, who lives in Maidenhead, Berks.
‘The names I remember are Sharon Hitchcock, Dee Morton, Sue Atkinson, Zara Hollingshead, Lorna Hodges, Judith Hustwick, Tessa Logan Edwards, Gill Waters, Jane Bulow, Celia Hill, Jenny Jones, Marie Lange, Janet Haskell and Jane Traynor.
‘ We did six weeks of pre-training to learn basic nursing skills before being let loose on the wards.
‘ Oh, the terror of that first day!
‘ We were proud of our uniforms — if not the pork pie hat and gabardine. We were not allowed hair on collars, earrings or make-up. As a first-year nurse I was paid £7 a week, of which £4 went on food and rent.
‘ Camaraderie got us through the difficult times and forged friendships.
‘I left nursing and went into drug research.
‘A new St Mary’s Hospital has since been built to replace our old one, with a very different style of nursing to the one we trained in.’ A JOLLY reunion is on the cards for old high school friends Phil Boydell and Teddy Peterson.
When Phil’s family moved to New York in the early Seventies, after his father got a job with an airline, he found it tricky fitting in at Woodlands high school.
At first, his classmates couldn’t understand a word he said. Then they laughed and asked if he had gone to tea with the Queen.
Teddy was the friendly boy who welcomed the shy newcomer.
‘ We spent a lot of time listening to pop records, trying to figure out the girls at school and discussing our favourite books and movies,’ says Teddy.
‘We were best friends for four or five years. Then, in our senior year, Phil’s family suddenly moved back to England. We wrote to each other for a while, but the letters dried up.’
On a trip to Britain with his wife Donna to celebrate his 60th birthday, Teddy saw our column and asked for help in locating Phil.
Retired marketing executive Phil, who lives near Brighton with his wife Christina, says he was ‘gobsmacked’ at being found.
‘ I’m delighted my old buddy hadn’t forgotten me,’ he says.
‘We’ll definitely meet soon and talk about old times.’
IF there is someone you would like to trace, write to Gill Whitley, 1 Newbrook house, New hall Lane, Preston, Pr1 5Pe, enclosing an SAe, or send an email to monica.porter@dailymail.co.uk — including a contact phone number. All communications will be answered as soon as possible. A small donation will be requested for employing Gill Whitley’s services. this column is researched with the aid of www.192.com.