Raising a baby girl and mourning the loss of her mother, Martha Hayes found a soulmate in Claudia, 72, whose circumstances oddly mirrored her own
f friendships are the real love stories of our lives, I can pinpoint the moment I knew Claudia was the one. It was the Saturday night I stood on her doorstep in my pyjamas. I had locked myself out of my house, while collecting a food delivery from the gate, with my two-year-old daughter, Maggie, alone inside. I was grateful for two things: I had my phone , and I had my dog, who would have barked and woken my daughter had I left him alone in the house.
It was stressful but memorable, and soon the experience morphed into a funny story, something we joked about weeks later over pedicures, cocktails, brunch. Despite only knowing each other for six months, Claudia and I have lots in common. We make each other laugh. We text constantly. She’s everything I want in a friend. She’s also 72. Three decades older than me.
‘She loves the British sense of humour. It only takes a look for us to erupt into giggles’: Martha and Claudia.A year later, I became pregnant with Maggie and we moved out of the apartment into a bigger home. The friends we made during the pandemic also moved, to nearby areas, and we remained close. I adore the friends I’ve made in Los Angeles. We are all in the same peer group, grappling with small children, career disillusionment, fears of growing older; muddling through as best we can.
I tried everything from exercise groups to local music classes, and while they were fun and provided Maggie and me with some weekly structure, they didn’t spark friendships. My heart sunk whenever I spoke to someone born and bred in LA – it meant they probably already had their quota of friends, and likely had family nearby, too. What was I looking for? I already had friends. Some who had become like family. What was it that I was really lacking? I didn’t know. Until I met Claudia.
When she arrives, armed with thoughtful gifts for Maggie, including a book she loved as a child, she is wearing a cashmere sweater with jeans and her long blonde hair is down. She has a smile that radiates such warmth you feel happier just looking at her. I learn that she is from Boston but has lived in Los Angeles for over 30 years. She was married young, to a man who didn’t want children.
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