Collierville women honor five decades of companionship
By Christina Morgan
Each month, Collierville resident Tricia Clark sends out an email that ensures pieces of her past remain part of her future.
“Right now, the current email I get out monthly there’s 27 families, or 27 ladies,” Clark said.The more than two dozen women Clark corresponds with are the matriarchs of nearly 30 families Clark met in 1973.
“Back then in the 60s and 70s, Collierville was so small,” she noted.
Clark and her husband Tommy, both graduates of Collierville High School, became friends with these families through fellowship at First Baptist Church.
“We all met at church,” she recalled. “Some of us knew each other even before that, but this is when we all started getting together.”
At the time, many of the friends were in their late 20s and early 30s, married and many with children.
“We were all connected through church activity, and then when our children started school, everybody lived close to the school near Peterson Lake,” Clark said.
She explained that the families spent a great deal of time together, from church to dining out.
The men of the families even created a softball team, while the women often played tennis.
“Our husbands became great friends. They played softball together. The wives and kids had our shirts, too. We cheered. We were at all of the games,” Clark added.
Of course, Clark stressed that not every family would participate in every activity.
“But somewhere in the circle we were all connected,” she said.
As the children grew older, they too befriended one another.
The tradition of fellowship was also passed down to a new generation, when grandchildren came into the mix, as Clark organized a grandmother’s group for those in pre-school.
Now, five decades later the group of women met on Collierville’s Historic Town Square last Thursday before sharing lunch at Cafe´ Piazza.
“We are so blessed,” Clark said, “and look forward to many more years together.”
