A ritual of calls that has lasted for 25 years

Monday, 3:30 p.m. The telephone rings. No need to consult the display, future interlocutors know only too well who will be on the phone. Because Elizabeth Côté and Thérèse Roy Garneau have been observing an unchanging ritual for more than 25 years: every week, without fail, the two friends call each other on the same day, at the same time, to talk about their lives, chirping like magpies, sharing giggles and unfailing friendship.

Sylvain Sarrazin
Press

Like the hands of a clock, Elizabeth and Thérèse lead their lives each on their own – one residing in Baie-Comeau, the other in Quebec – before systematically crossing each other, same day, same time, by interposed handset. Thus, every Monday, good weather, bad weather, gloomy or radiant mood, the two women answer the call for 3:30 p.m. And if we had to turn these hands backwards or wind the mechanism of this clock, the whirlwind would last a long time: it is 44 years that they forged their friendship, when Elizabeth landed as a teacher at Hauterive high school, on the North Shore, where Thérèse was secretary. “It clicked right away,” remember the two women. “When Elizabeth arrived, I immediately wanted to know her better. She spoke well… and a lot! », Emphasizes his friend.

Quickly, they share their activities, an anthology of cinema, theater, suppers, then in the 1990s, they set up their weekly telephone call ritual, where they can quench their thirst for conversation. An appointment that became even more precious when the teacher packed up for Quebec in 2008. “Mondays at 3:30 pm, it’s sacred,” says Elizabeth. Why this day and this hour? “We do not know, but it is the same and it continues like that”, they answer in chorus.

To feed their dialogues, there is no lack of grain to grind, between family lives and everyday activities. On the menu for telephone chatter: shows, restaurants, children and grandchildren, confidences, daily life… and distant vacations. “It was Elizabeth who made me want to travel. I had visited Canada, but not Europe, ”says Thérèse, who has since made six trips there, discovering Russia, a childhood dream.

In the rare event that one of them is unavailable on Monday, a small readjustment is allowed on Sunday or Tuesday. But they wouldn’t hang up on their tradition for the world. “This is my gift of the week! », Says Thérèse, octogenarian who continues to lead, as in the past, an active and full life.

Phone call during crises

Many laughs punctuate the conversations of the duo, which we can guess a bit mischievous; so many remedies to better get through the more tumultuous periods.

“When she has grief, when family members are in the hospital, I try to encourage her, she also knows everything I am going through. We help each other, ”says Elizabeth, having learned that she had multiple sclerosis at the turn of the century (“ The Y2K bug isn’t my computer that it lasts. ‘had is me,’ she jokes, despite worsening symptoms in the past year).

The telephone ritual has become a particularly valuable support in times of pandemic, Thérèse living, since the death of her husband, in a residence for seniors, the Château Baie-Comeau. “She leads the life of a castle, you see,” teases her accomplice. “With the pandemic, it was a sad castle! she retorts immediately. We were brought our meals without even speaking to us. The discussions on the phone were the only contact I had. ”

But at a time when the whole world has taken refuge on Zoom and other videoconferencing platforms, do not count on them to transpose their babbling on the internet. Therese has no line… and that’s fine, she judges. A good old corded phone does the trick very well.

Over the calls and dials, the hands continue to turn, inexorably crossing each other every Monday. And as on a clock, one is slightly larger than the other: Thérèse has blown out 87 candles, while Elizabeth has 68. The first considers the second as the daughter she never had; and conversely, Elizabeth sees Thérèse as her second mother. “It’s a lasting friendship, I wish it would never end. I know I’m older than her, but I don’t think about that, just Monday when I tell her what’s going on in my life, which isn’t a long quiet river. It helps me to get through it, to pour out the overflow ”, philosopher the lady of Baie-Comeau. When asked for the secret of this friendly longevity, the duo responds with a personal Holy Trinity (Thérèse confesses to prizing prayers): “respect, trust, love”.