I first saw
Broph at a school bus stop on a blustery fall day
in Beaconsfield Quebec, a typical 60’s suburb
on the West Island of Montreal. My family had just
moved from Burlington and it was the first day of
grade two. “New kid…” I heard
her mutter under her breath as she nudged a friend
and gazed at me.
We were destined
to be friends throughout elementary school because
we were both so darn smart. You see the Quebec school
board liked to keep all of the smart kids in one
class - the ‘A’ class. Not as smart
kids were in the ‘B’ class and so on…
can you spot the 10 year old budding genius in this
Grade 5A picture?
Hint…
can you spot those lovely Brophey legs…?
She’s fourth from the left, front row (that’s
me just left of her). Notice how disheveled and
self-conscious she seems having her picture taken…
how were we to know that this would dramatically
change through the course of Broph’s life…
I don’t
remember exactly when I started calling her ‘Broph’
but it was out of necessity since there were 3 other
‘Susans’ in our group of friends plus
my sister, Susan.
Growing up together,
Broph and I remained steadfast friends experiencing
all of life’s “ups”- our dogs,
weekends when my sister babysat Brophey girls, music,
scary movies at the mini-theatre - and “downs”
– Girl Guide camp, Rowdy’s adoption,
Randy’s death, spiders (still a downer for
Broph). Before we knew it we were in high school.
The fact that both of our last names began with
‘B’ ensured we were always in the same
homeroom. Our high school got really radical one
year and offered homerooms based on student interest.
Broph and I were quick to sign up for ‘guitar’
homeroom. We started taking lessons and soon were
part of a group called The Islanders. A group of
13 girls in short skirts with acoustic guitars playing
calypso and folk music. Hey, there was a market
for it… car shows and church coffee houses
couldn’t get enough of us.
I
believe that this was the start of Broph’s foray
into the entertainment business. Can you spot the
young songbird?
(Lovely Brophey legs mostly
hidden)
After a year or so, 'The
Islanders' morphed into 'The Crossroads'. We dropped
a few girls and added a couple of guys with electric
guitars, and as you can imagine the dynamics of
the group changed drastically. We also dropped the
calypso music and concentrated exclusively on 'folk
' and 'folk-rock'. We even made it onto TV a couple
of times and even then, you could see it in Broph's
eyes- she was star-struck.
In 1970 after a run-in with
the FLQ, the Bropheys were driven out of Quebec
and headed west to Ontario. Two fourteen year old
'best friends' had to say good-bye but promised
to write every week. And man oh man, did we write…
letters less than 20 pages (double-sided) were considered
a 'rip-off'.
As many of you know Broph
is an excellent writer… she's very succinct and
often uses illustration to explain a point. For
the next few years, she wrote me a play-by-play
of her new life in Willowdale. It wasn't long before
this shy, self-conscious girl from Beaconsfield
turned into a man-eater with an eye for the local
high school talent:
Even back then, Broph always
knew how best to budget to get what she wanted:
And her love
of TV goes waaaaay back:
Broph’s love of musical talent and hair products
goes way back too:
In 1974, I was thrilled
to be reunited with Broph when I moved to Toronto.
She would often hang out at my apartment on Howard
Park Ave where we’d exchange hair care secrets.
My stay in Toronto was short-lived
though, since I moved on to Ottawa in 1976.
This
photo was taken my last night in Toronto and I can’t
help but wonder if somehow Sharon Stone got her
Basic Instinct inspiration from Broph… ?
During the
80’s we still kept in touch and there were
lots of back and forth visits between Toronto and
Ottawa. And since both of us were working gals,
the letters were soon replaced with long distance
telephone calls. We talked…
And talked…
And talked…
Now we all
know that Broph is a party girl. She will attend
the opening of an envelope if it means wine,
laughs and shmoozing. Her natural curiosity
and interest in people make her a valuable asset
of any event. During the 80’s and 90’s
I had the pleasure of partying many times with
Broph and would like to share with you some
of the more memorable events.
Beaconsfield
High School Reunion 1983 Sue Brady, Brenda
Burroughs, Broph
BHS Reunion 1993. Broph,
Brenda, Sue Curry
Broph’s ‘stag’
March 1987. Gail Baker, Broph, Brenda, Debbie
Baker
Ok, now
this was a pretty significant event. My best
friend gets married and I’m the maid of
honour. It was one of the better parties of
the decade I must say. I was so happy for her,
however a little unsure of this mystery husband,
this man called ‘Geoff’…
Yes, folks that’s
him on the right with his cellmate… er buddy,
Don. Can you understand my reservations? This so
called ‘journalist’ from Boston stole
my best friend’s heart and fathered her children…
her sweet, innocent little children.
Despite my
misgivings, throughout the 90’s Broph became
a model wife and mother and began training Geoff
in the art of photography…
“Please
don’t cut off Mommy’s head, Daddy!”
And
dressing…
“As
I’ve told you before- two socks or no
socks, honey…”
Broph
has proven to be a tough business woman too…
“You
fight me, you fight ma gang..”
And
so through the decades with Broph, I now
find myself in the year 2004 and soon to
celebrate Broph’s 50th birthday…
well, I won’t exactly be celebrating
because she’s not having a party which
I am a little peeved about but I hope to
get over it. Anyway, I’ve heard it
said that although 50 is the old age of
youth, 50 is also the youth of old age.
But I would rather say- you are only young
once but you can be immature forever!
Broph,
here’s hoping your birthday is wonderful
and special and you remain as immature as
possible for a long time to come. It was
a lot of fun putting this piece together
and going through old letters/photos brought
back so many good memories. Thanks for being
a great friend for 43 years (yikes!) and
Happy, Happy Birthday!
Much
love, Brenda
