Kathleen Saville and Olive Woodward
Jade Small
Jade Small
December 28, 2022 ·  4 min read

Best friends for 80 years move into same senior home

So many people grow up with their best friends scheming about creating their own eco-village for their favorites to live in together. Some might just settle for a care home as everything is already set up and waiting for your arrival. Two women have been B.F.Fs since they were 11 years old. They have now moved into the same nursing home where they can support and torment each other till the end of their days.

Olive and Kathleen, best friends living together
Image credit: Facebook

Two best friends for life

When Kathleen Saville and Olive Woodward were 11 years old, they attended an all-girls school in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, in the UK. This is where they met, but neither of them expected to live together at 92 years old in the same caring home. They made an immediate bond, and their friendship grew into a support system that lasted throughout their lives.

In fact, since they met, the two best friends never lived far apart from each other. The furthest distance between them required just a ten-minute walk. The teachers and staff at school nicknamed the pair as the “dynamic duo,” a name they have taken into adulthood and finally to retirement.

Kathleen and Olive, 92 years old and still best friends
Image credit: Facebook

These days, you can find them living in the same care home where they spend their days talking endlessly. They swear they try to avoid causing any mischief, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get involved where they deem necessary. “We don’t cause any trouble in the home, but we sometimes have to knock the staff into shape,” Kathleen tells SWNS. “I just raced one of the managers down the hallway for a laugh.”

Cheating time

The 89-year-old best friends have lived a full life with much love and connection. Their union has been a source of love and youth. They might be at the latter end of their 80s, but they swear they look 20 years younger than that. This may or may not be because of the friendship they share. “We are 89, but we look 63, we have been good friends and never fallen out, and we are still good-looking,” says Kathleen. “We have never argued over anything. She’s a good friend.”

For Kathleen and Olive, honesty is the best policy. They would rather tell each other everything than to let that harbor negativity inside them. Kathleen swears this is how their friendship survived the sands of time. Many people might learn from these two as it is not often you see such old friends still so close. “I just knew we would always be friends when I met Olive,” says Saville. “She means a lot to me. We’ve stayed friends by telling each other what we think and never arguing.”

Marriage and kids

Kathleen and Olive both grew up and got married. In 1954, Kathleen tied the knot with Leonard. She worked at a telephone company at the time. Then, two years later, Olive also got hitched to a man named Roy. She was a typist but later had two children. Later on, she became a grandmother to several grandchildren.

In 1989, Kathleen’s husband past away. This led her into a life of solitude, as she never had her own children. Luckily, she had a life-lobe best friends to keep her company. Eventually, she moved into Berry Hill Park care home in 2018. Then, Olive’s husband died in 2014, making her re-think her living situation. “When Kathleen moved into the home I missed her and I used to go and see her every Saturday for lunch,” said Olive. “Then I thought, why don’t I move in, too?”

Two giggling best friends

Kathleen says having her best friend living so close to her is the cherry on top of a full life. “I’m so glad Olive is here now, we’re like giggling school girls and we still put on our lippy and get dressed up. We always say to each other ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it,” she said.

The care home manager says they have a bond visible to all who spend time with them. “The sparkle is still there. They are full of mischief,” said Sally. “Kathleen is a proper flirt … Olive is a bit more reserved — but they egg each other on. Since they have been reunited, Kathleen and Olive have been inseparable, causing just as much mischief in the home as they used to when they became friends 78 years ago.”

Keep Reading: Volunteers Around the World Are Taking the Elderly On Rickshaw Rides in Nature

Sources

  1. Best friends for 80 years move into same senior home.” NY Post. Hannah Sparks. December 5, 2019.
  2. Friends of 80 years move into same Mansfield care home.BBC. December 3, 2019.