Alison Footitt tells us about her 20 year reunion with her NCT friends and how distance hasn’t been a barrier for their friendship.
We met at our NCT class in Storrington West Sussex in the spring of 1996. It didn’t take long for the group to bond and we soon had a regular trip to the pub after the class where the dads-to-be enjoyed a pint taking advantage of the mums-to-be driving home!
I remember that time of anticipation waiting for all babies in the group to be born – eight in total, and only one girl.
We met up regularly after the babies arrived, sharing stories of sleep deprivation, breastfeeding and brands of nappies.
Despite coming from a fairly wide geographic area in Sussex, and the children attending different nurseries and schools, we continued to meet up regularly and shared birthday parties in the early years.
Several of the mums have continued to meet, although geography has made this more of a challenge in recent years as I moved to the Highlands 10 years ago. That was not a barrier, however, to our 20 year reunion when five of us celebrated with a fantastic weekend in Inverness earlier this year in April.
The reunion was amazing, I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much.
It was lovely to meet up with people who have been such an important part of our family life, and at a time when we had the most important thing happening – having our first baby. NCT helped us create a link with people who knew exactly what we were going through and I have valued their friendship very much.
The reunion weekend was amazing, I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much. Thanks NCT for getting us together 20 years ago; it’s great to see how many NCT friendships are continuing to grow.
If you have a story to tell about your NCT group and your amazing friendships, email mailto:nctmatterseditor@nct.org.uk.
