“Longtime friends” is the only way to describe Bob Walsh and Vilma “Pete” Woodard -both in time and distance. Bob first met Vilma, known as “Pete” by her friends, in the spring of 1946 when he was stationed at Camp Pickett. While their paths went in different directions after Walsh was shipped overseas, the two got together to visit every 20 years or so. Just before Thanksgiving last year, Walsh drove halfway across the country from his home in Kansas to spend the holidays with his friend in Farmville.

“Last year I had a bad year,” explained Pete who prefers the nickname given to her by a cousin 82 years ago. “I'd had three foot surgeries and had to stay in the hospital for a month. When Bob called before Thanksgiving I told him it was going to be a lonely Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Bob decided the best way to cheer up his friend was to come for a visit, continuing a tradition that began in 1946.

“I first met Bob in March of 1946,” Pete recalled. “He and two or three other soldiers had taken a cab to come to Farmville.”

Bob had arranged to meet someone at Pete's house.

“I just lived a block off of Main Street on South Street,” she continued. “Bob came to meet this person – and I'm not going to name names because that goes into another story – but this person wasn't there.”

Bob and Pete then did what most young people did during the war years – they spent some time getting to know each other.

“I remember seeing him maybe four times,” Pete noted. “We went to a movie and went for walks.”

“People didn't have money then, so they walked the streets,” Bob added.

“We would walk up to the drug store on the corner of High and Main Streets,” Pete continued. “They had booths there with those tabletop jukeboxes. That's what we did. We sat at the booth and had a Coke and listened to the music. That was your date back then.”

Those pleasant days did not last long. Bob was soon shipped overseas to Germany.

“Bob knew that after I graduated I would be going to Washington D.C. to live with my aunt,” Pete continued. “That's what I did, and while I was living there I received a letter from a nurse telling me that Bob had been badly wounded in Germany. He was in the hospital for a long time.”

Although Pete was concerned, the two wartime friends didn't attempt to correspond. Both were busy getting on with their own lives.

“After I was able to get on my feet I went back to Kansas,” Bob related.

He got married and had two adopted children.

Pete continued to stay in the D.C. area.

“At that time I worked for the Labor Department, and I met my husband who was on the Washington Police Department,” Pete added. “We had three children.”

Pete didn't hear from Bob again until 1958.

“Bob has been in the old car business all his life and traveled to car shows,” Pete explained. “On one of his trips he came through Farmville and looked up my parents.”

At that time, Pete and her family were living in Hyattsville, MD.

“Bob called me and asked if he could come by and meet the family,” Pete recalled. “That was a nice surprise.”

Once again after that visit the two old friends went their separate ways, not to reconnect for 22 years.

“The years went by, and in 1980 Bob was coming through this way again,” Pete related. “He visited my mother, and she told him I was working at the U.S. Capital Flag Office. Bob called, then came and stayed in the area a week or two.”

After that visit, the routine of everyday life once again claimed the attention of Pete and Bob. This time it was a quarter or a century before the two would meet again.

“My husband died in 2000, so I moved back to Farmville in 2001,” Pete resumed, “I have a brother and sister here and lots of friends.”

Pete purchased a house in Farmville and began settling in.

“I left Farmville when I was 17 and came back at 71,” she said with a smile. “I'd come full circle – I was back home.”

A few years later, in 2005, Pete recorded a strange Bob-related happening.

“I've written all this down,” she said. “It was a strange happening. All of it was strange – nice, but strange.”

About that time, in 2005, Bob decided it was time to check in with his friend in Virginia.

“This time Bob got my brother's phone number from the operator,” Pete related. “As it turned out I had driven over to visit with my brother that evening. When I walked in the door my sister-in-law was on the phone, and I heard her say, 'Well, she just walked in – would you like to speak with her?'”

The caller was Bob.

“When she handed me the phone I didn't know who I was going to talk to,” Pete smiled. “It was Bob. It was like I had just talked to him last week. My brother just shook his head and said, 'If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it.'”

The two old friends had a pleasant telephone visit. Later, Bob called and came for a visit in person.

“He's been here maybe three times since then,” Pete added.

Bob had always been a traveler. While living in Kansas he helped a friend farm for about 50 years, then he worked for an insurance company.

“I also worked for a car dealership,” Bob explained. “I was on the road all the time. We'd pick up cars in Kansas City, Oklahoma City or Dallas.”

The 84-year-old, who left Kansas last November 7 to come to Farmville, made the trip by himself. He traveled 1,315 miles in two days.

“My van rides good,” he observed. “The main reason I got it is so I can get in and out with my walker.”

“It's been a wonderful holiday season,” Pete added.

While Pete wasn't able to get out due to her recent foot surgeries, the two friends enjoyed visiting and catching up on old times.

“We've had family and friends coming in – it's been busy,” she said. “Bob is an authority on Big Band music. We'd listen to a cable channel that plays Big Band music or we would watch the news or weather. The Weather Channel has become a favorite.”

Soap operas were not on their list.

“I can just look out the window and there's my world,” Pete stated. “It keeps me happy.”

Pete is also pleased that she made the decision to return to her hometown.

The oldest of five children, Pete was raised in Farmville and graduated from Farmville High School in 1946.

“For 82 years I've been called Pete,” she explained. “When they deliver Meals on Wheels my name is Vilma – that's my first name. When I was in high school I was Dolores and my maiden name was Hatcher. My cousin nicknamed me Pete when I was born – I kept thinking they must have wanted a boy.”

“This community is wonderful,” Pete added. “I'm so happy I came back.”

Another hometown advantage for Pete is Meals on Wheels. Once a volunteer who helped deliver meals, the octogenarian is pleased to be on the receiving side while recuperating from her surgeries.

“Meals on Wheels is at the top of my list,” she stated.

Although Bob headed back to Kansas on Jan. 8, Pete is confident that the two friends will get together again.

“We're in our 80s now, so we might be 100,” Pete observed. “Willard Scott has pictures on television every day of people who are 100 years old.'

With a twinkle in his eye Bob added, “I'll bet they aren't driving 1,300 miles!”

Whether traveling across town or across the country, Bob believes that reconnecting with an old friend is the right thing to do.

That, after all, is what longtime friends are for.