Loneliness in childhood

[Harry Douthwaite]

I've elaborated on this in previous threads, but I'm just curious if anyone else had a similar perspective.

I spent the first six years of my life close to the Hertford East branch (Musley Hill in Ware and Sele Farm in Hertford) but then ended up moving to the middle of Norfolk (Fakenham) in the autumn of 1998. Once that happened, spotting opportunities became very sparse. Maybe four times a year if I was lucky. None of the other kids in the schools I attended could really relate to me. I only had one friend, and in junior school even he abandoned me to be cool for his other friends.

Then in the summer of 2004 we moved to Vancouver Island in Canada and not a lot improved, given we moved three times before we finally settled somewhere (again, nowhere near a railway line).

Watching a kids' cartoon as a teenager named Timothy Goes To School, I ended up making up my own imaginary friend. I love to write about him, and I gave Timothy a physical appearance that closely resembles the only friend I was able to make in Canada (though even that didn't last more than three years). In essence, Timothy is the best friend I needed as a kid but never had.

 

[Bevan Price]

We moved house when I was 16. At the previous house, there were several kids in the area about the same age as me. Near the new house, the only kids were little more than babies, aged no more than 5-6 -- far too young to be my friends. I suspect I never fully recovered from having to learn how to be without close friends.

 

[Harry Douthwaite]

We moved house when I was 16. At the previous house, there were several kids in the area about the same age as me. Near the new house, the only kids were little more than babies, aged no more than 5-6 -- far too young to be my friends. I suspect I never fully recovered from having to learn how to be without close friends.

Sixteen is quite a challenging age for such big changes. In my case, when I turned sixteen I lost the only friend I managed to make over here. But at least then I started to get a bit more freedom to go places by myself rather than being cooped up in a cul-de-sac.