Snail mail...

Friendship spans across generations

Debbi Harvie

Lily Brimicombe sits with photos of her late husband, George, and a copy of his guest book entry at a home in Belgium where he was billeted in April 1945. The Brimicombes stayed in touch with the family, writing letters once every few weeks for 66 years.
A 66-year friendship spanning two generations continues to grow as strong today as it did when it began in April 1945.George Brimicombe was stationed in Belgium during the Second World War and billeted at the home of Yvonne Van Schuylenbergh, a kind lady who opened her home to soldiers during the trying times in Europe and across the world.“He was stationed all over Europe and during a break, he spent a week at Yvonne’s home in Belgium,” explains Lily Brimicombe, George’s wife.George who was a clerk in the army during the war, kept in touch with his future bride, residing in their hometown of Westville, via hand-written letters.“George thought Yvonne was such a nice lady, he wanted to keep in touch with her after he returned home,” says Lily.And so they did. For almost 70 years Lily and Yvonne wrote back and forth keeping each other up to date on recent happenings and family life.“George didn’t like writing so I wrote for him,” says Lily. “We used to write to each other about what was going on in the family and around the home and any trips we took and recent happenings.”But Yvonne passed away March 5 of this year, a mere 11 months after George’s passing.“Yvonne’s family sent a memorial card to us, but we couldn’t find a return address so I looked her up on Facebook,” says Alta Owen, Lily’s daughter. “Once I got her address we sent a thank you and have continued to stay in touch.”Lily and Yvonne communicated strictly through hand-written letters. “We wrote each other once every couple of weeks, whenever we had news to share and we always wrote each other around Christmas time,” says Lily. “She told me I was the first person to ever send her a Christmas card,” she laughs.The letter-writing continued without a break for 66 years.“I like writing. We developed a special friendship over the years but I never got a chance to meet her,” she says regretfully.After Alta began conversing with Yvonne’s daughter, Lieve van den Eeckhout, she received a letter with a copy of George’s original guest book signature reading ‘In your golden chain of friendship, regard me as a link’ – a statement Lieve refers to in her letter to Alta as being as strong as it ever was.“I miss the letters coming and writing them,” says Lily. “When we first started writing I couldn’t read half of them but I think she started to write more like us after a while.”Alta says, “It’s come full circle with (George) starting it and me continuing it with the daughter, and she seems really excited to keep it going. We are going to send her a copy of this article.”She also would like to someday make her way to Belgium to meet the family they have come to cherish.