My teenage years with Matthew Perry's Mother

Suzanne Langford, when I knew her, with Pierre Trudeau.  She was his press secretary.

Suzanne Langford was my best friend throughout high school in Ottawa, Canada.  We both went to Lisgar Collegiate Institute from 1960 to 1965.  

She is the mother of Matthew Perry.

We had the most fun back then!  We double-dated, snuck into the sand pits with our dates for an illegal, midnight swim and made our own outfits -- some with décolletage a little too daringly lowcut.  We laughed 'til we cried.  We listened to Françoise Hardy and thought we were the most sophisticated teenagers ever.

She has two older brothers, John and Stuart.  Stuart was the funny one, with a constant and well-timed quip for every occasion.  I suspect this is where Matthew got his own talent.   

Suzanne was scouted by the Eileen Ford modelling agency in New York and moved to start an exciting career.  She graced the cover of a number of fashion magazines and that's where she met Matthew's father, John Perry.  Theirs was a whirlwind romance and they wed in 1968.  I was her Maid of Honour and she gave me a beautiful, engraved silver bracelet to mark the occasion.

At her wedding, I met John's brother, Tony, and began my own whirlwind romance.  He was a musician and singer with 'The Serendipity Singers' and used to fly me to New York, where we'd hang out with people like Neil Diamond and Peter Paul and Mary at local clubs.  My relationship with Tony didn't pan out, but those were heady days!

When she became pregnant with Matthew, I was the first person she called.  When he was born, I was again the first person she called after her parents. 

Her marriage to John ended after a couple of years and she moved back to Ottawa for a while.  That's where she met TV journalist Keith Morrison, her husband of more than 40 years.  They went on to have four more children.

When she moved to California, we lost touch.  But we got together again a few years later in Ottawa when her father, and then her mother, died.  The laughs continued.

I just wrote her a long letter about everything.  I don't know if she'll reply, but I wanted her to know I am still here after 56 years.  I am still her friend in her time of tragedy.  

Matthew with his father, John, and his mother, my friend Suzanne, above.  Suzanne and Keith, upper photo, on their way to identify Matthew.  My heart breaks for her.

Rest in peace, Matthew.  Your struggle over, as is the years-long anguish you have put so many loved ones through, including your Mother.