Age Knows No Bounds: Heartwarming Friendship Flourishes Between Two Residents at Mercy Place Mont Clare

International Day of Friendship on Sunday 30 July will have special meaning for two residents living at Mercy Place Mont Clare. That’s because, despite being nonagenarians and septuagenarians respectively, residents of the not-for-profit home Margaret Franko and Charmaine Brown are living proof that age is never a barrier to making new friendships.

92-year-old Margaret and 76-year-old Charmaine met at Mercy Place Mont Clare around 12 months ago and, by their own admission, immediately connected and ‘got on like a house on fire’.

“We spend a lot of time together and enjoy similar activities,” says Charmaine, who started life in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia back in 1947, after her father - a tropical disease pathologist working for the World Health Organisation - was transferred from British Borneo after World War II and the family then migrated to Australia, arriving in Fremantle on 5 January 1959.

“We always sit next to each other during the various activities we attend at Mercy Place Mont Clare,” adds Margaret who is a born and bred West Australian, having been born in Claremont in 1931.

“We love having a joke with each other and being a bit silly, which Charmaine does pull me up on from time to time,” laughs Margaret.

“Yes, she gives me that look and then we both start laughing again,” adds Charmaine. “Thinking about it, we can sometimes be like a naughty pair of schoolchildren, but we just connect with each other and really enjoy each other’s company every day.

“Making friends with Margaret has been a wonderful thing. We’ve both had long lives and are never stuck for things to talk about, which just shows you are never too old to make a new friend.”

Mercy Place Mont Clare Service Manager, Dorothy Wijangco-Garcia, says everyone at the not-for-profit home was delighted that Charmaine and Margaret had developed a firm friendship over the past 12 months.

“It is heart-warming to see the companionship that has developed between Charmaine and Margaret since they struck up a friendship after both moving into our home,” she says.

“We’re fortunate at Mercy Place Mont Clare in that many of our seniors have formed strong bonds with fellow residents, and as a result we have a close-knit community where seniors genuinely enjoy each other’s company and friendships flourish.”

International Day of Friendship is a United Nations day that promotes the role that friendship plays in promoting peace in many cultures. It is observed on July 30 each year.

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