A pair of long-lost cousins were reunited by a smile after 70 years apart when they met by chance - in a hospital waiting room.
June Driver lived just three doors away from her second-cousin Lilian Lowe in Bath, Somerset, during World War Two.
But the pair lost touch in 1942, when Mrs Lowe - now a grandmother of 13 - joined the RAF and moved away.
They have been reunited after Mrs Driver, now of Trowbridge, Wilts., sat next to Mrs Lowe in a hospital waiting room and recognised her "lovely smile".
Mother-of-one Mrs Driver, 78, said "fate" led her to Mrs Lowe as they both waited for routine check-ups at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.
She said: "I walked in and thought 'where shall I sit' and this lady gave me such a nice smile I thought I would sit there."
The two women began to talk and discovered they had lived close to each other in the 1940s.
But when Mrs Lowe asked Mrs Driver her maiden name they suddenly realised their relation to each other.
Her mother, Emily Tandy, was the aunt of Mrs Driver's mother Kathleen Clothier.
Mother-of-four Mrs Lowe, 89, said: "We were absolutely delighted. It caused quite a stir at the hospital. They all wanted to know what was going on.
"We had the department in uproar. It was absolutely wonderful. I was so pleased it happened at the hospital because they have been so wonderful."
The women last saw each other during the Blitz in 1942, when Mrs Lowe heard Mrs Driver, then aged eight, and her brother were sick and offered to go and help their mother.
But soon after that, she joined the RAF and lost touch. They now have a lot of catching up to do - and have already discovered remarkable similarities.
They were both being treated at the clinic for glaucoma and cataracts on the day they met - Friday 13 January - and suffer from asthma.
Mrs Driver added: "We were meant to sit there that day. We have discovered that we are very similar.
"It was a lucky Friday 13."
Similar Stories
Monsieur Lazhar - 04 May 2012
All you need is love (you must be joking) - 04 May 2012
Albert Nobbs - 01 May 2012
Two plays by Martin Crimp - 20 March 2012
Robert Tanitch reviews the latest DVD's - 16 March 2012
Campaigns & Issues
Councils’ care home policy may cost families £millions a year, says charity
Thousands of families in England may be paying councils millions of pounds a year for care home places that should be free, according to a report by older people’s charity Independent Age.
The families are having to ‘top-up’ their elderly relatives’ care home fees because some councils refuse to pay the full market cost themselves. Councils are required to provide an appropriate care home place to elderly people with few assets but the maximum rate they will pay in England is on average £45 a week, compared to an average real cost of £524.
News
Inflation falls for all age groups, although elderly still hit hardest
- The latest figures from the Alliance Trust Economic Research Centre show that all households experienced a decline in their inflation rates in April
- Despite this, it is still the elderly households which face the highest rate of inflation
- The over 75 year old households face an inflation rate of 3.6% and although this is the lowest level since October 2010, it is still higher than the official rate of inflation
- The 30-49 year olds, once again, have the lowest rate of inflation at 3.0%. This is the lowest level recorded for this age group since November 2009
- Gas price inflation remains elevated at 15%, which continues to affect the elderly households disproportionately
Competitions & Fun
Win a pair of tickets to South Pacific
This breathtaking and lavish Lincoln Center Theatre production reinvented Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical.
It swept the 2008 Tony Awards, played for two years to sold-out houses on Broadway and was televised across America.
Reader Offers
You could win one of three superb weekend breaks in Silver Travel Advisor’s “Best of British” Diamond Jubilee celebration this month
Silver Travel Advisor is a friendly website packed with advice, tips, information and honest reviews written by and for silver travellers (aged over 50).
A team of advisors are on hand to answer queries (for free), and you can share your own experiences too.
It’s time to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee this month with an amazing British prize draw:
Win a two night stay for two people at Flackley Ash Hotel , Rye, East Sussex
Health & Wellbeing
Patients to benefit from better advice on pain control
New guidance for doctors and other prescribers on the use of strong painkillers for patients with chronic or incurable disease has been welcomed by researchers at the University of Leeds.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is today (23 May) launching a new clinical guideline on the safe use of opioids – a family of drugs derived from the opium poppy that have been identified by the World Health Organization as essential in the treatment of severe pain. The new NICE guideline should help ensure that when patients receiving palliative care for chronic or incurable illnesses start treatment with strong opiods, the drugs are prescribed safely and consistently..
Property & Finance
Older people need specialist housing
Britain’s housing market is failing to meet the needs of the elderly, despite a rapidly-ageing population and a growing demand for retirement housing, a charity has warned. Housing charity Shelter has found that if demand remains at current levels supply would have to increase by over 70 per cent in the next 20 years in order to keep up.
The report explored the housing options available to those over 55 - a group that will make up one in three people in England by 2030.
Lifestyle
Learn how the internet can make life easier for you
Stocking up on the heavy grocery essentials was a full day out for Sheila, age 82. “I could see the advantages of doing the supermarket shop on the internet: having the groceries delivered, saving the taxi fare and not relying on others to shop for me if I’m ill,” said Sheila.
“But although I used the internet for emails, I didn’t really enjoy or trust it. My daughter suggested that Pearson Love to Learn’s Internet Basics online course might give me confidence and when she offered to try it out with me, I decided to give it a go.
Travel & Leisure
New sat-nav for older people
There could be a new solution for the increasing number of elderly drivers in Britain who are driven round the bend by complicated sat-nav devices. Scientists are developing a new satellite navigation system - dubbed the Granny-Nav - to help technophobic pensioners. The new device, which tells pensioners to turn at a specific point, such as a pub and not in a certain distance, is being hailed as a new way to keep the elderly as independent as possible.
Have you noticed that that those advocating rises in pension levels to absurd levels like this are all very much younger and have no experience of the ageing process?