When Beccy’s cousin suggested they go to an open day at a local farm, she jumped at the chance. “We live in a small rural area called South Glengarry in Ontario. She told me about this woman who rescues animals and was raising money through a visiting day,” she says. “We got there and she had so many animals and beautiful gardens. I was impressed.”
They tried to find Natalie, the farm owner, to say hello, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, Beccy looked up the rescue centre on Facebook to learn more. A few months later, in the autumn of 2017, she mentioned the farm visit to some friends. “They told me they knew Natalie and suggested we all get together for dinner with her and her husband.”
After meeting up, Natalie was impressed by how “upfront” Beccy was. “She accosted me in this very charming way and told me she’d looked me up on Facebook,” she says. Throughout the meal, the pair bonded quickly. “I told her that I thought we should be friends. I don’t think she had much choice,” laughs Beccy. Natalie was drawn to her warm personality. “She was smart, funny, and well-travelled, as well as being authentic and outgoing.”
From then on, Beccy began visiting the farm regularly. In early 2018, Natalie rescued 30 very sick kittens. “About 14 of them passed away and I could see she was getting stressed out. She was up all night feeding them,” says Beccy. “She’d written about it on the farm’s Facebook page and people kept showing up to see these kittens. I suggested we could do proper farm tours and offered to run them for her.”
Natalie felt “really supported” during a tough time. “I’d never had that sort of friend in my life before and it felt amazing.” Soon after, Beccy began leading all sorts of farm events to raise money, including baby goat yoga and pet painting. “She’s a nurse practitioner, so on Valentine’s Day she ran a special event about the sex lives of all the species on our farm!” says Natalie. “She’s better at it than me because I’m such an introvert.”
In 2020, the farm visits paused when the pandemic hit, but the pair stayed in touch every day, and started meeting again as soon as they could. “I was so busy with work but she was always there to text me at 6am,” says Beccy. Neither of the women have their own children, which they think gives them more time for each other. “It’s a different friendship when you don’t have kids,” says Beccy. “I fostered teenagers for a while, and Natalie has always had her animals, but it leaves a lot of bandwidth.”
In 2022, Beccy supported her friend through a medical emergency. Natalie says: “My husband, Gordon, had a ministroke when he was horse riding. Fortunately he was OK, but in the beginning I had no news on his condition. Beccy took me for a drive around the local area to get my mind off everything.” She also offered emotional support to her friend this year, when one of Beccy’s foster children tragically died. “I was devastated for her and I just wanted to be there for her. I felt touched that she reached out to me.”
The pair have also been on holiday together to Morocco, along with Gordon. “It was such a fantastic trip,” says Beccy. “Gordon sat between us on the flight so we wouldn’t cause any trouble.”
They have even developed their own language. “We talk to each other in cat language because it makes us laugh. For two grown women, we can act like children but we have so much fun,” says Natalie. “I know she’ll be in my life for ever. She’s so kind, compassionate and generous, she’s going to have to tie my shoes when I’m older.”
Beccy loves how exciting her friend is. “We will always come up with something to do and she’s so reliable and stable. We are each other’s go-to, and that’s hard to find.”