Today is my best friend's birthday so I'm going to dedicate this blog to her. It's her 30th and I always thought that I'd be with her on this day but I can only send a part of my soul over the Indian Ocean and across Europe to be with her. For five years going on six, we've practically spent everyday together. We could sit there on the sofa and jabber for an eternity, under blankets and cradling cups of tea. We reminisce, we joke, we pose random questions, we quote favourite comedy sketches, we trash bad programmes and we listen to the menial details of each other's day.
Today my thoughts are given to my dearest Katherine, the one who took me to the hospital when my eye was bleeding, exclaiming "stigmata!" to the frightened cab driver. Katherine who made up a dance routine with me to make people laugh on club dancefloors and whenever I'm sick, that darling woman brings me Rooibos, lemon and honey tea. Lazy days are always best spent with a good hearty breakfast and a marathon of Friends, the kettle going on every two hours and the comfort of Kat sitting there, laughing at the same things as me.
We've tried to let go of the days when we'd do shots of 60% Stroh Rum before heading out for the night, coming home all sweaty, shiny-faced and our ears ringing. Nights have ended with me holding her hair back and she pushing me down our road in an abandoned trolley. We would go through the pictures we forgot we'd taken the next day, cackling at the good ones and shaking our heads at the embarrassing ones. Once I laughed so hard, I spat my tea out all over her face and she didn't even mind.
And on my tough days, I'd wait for her to come home and she would have bought a bottle of wine and some chocolate with her last tenner to cheer me up. When I write poems or short stories, she'll close her eyes and listen and tell me exactly what she liked about them afterwards.
I don't know how I would have gotten through most things in the last five/six years without her. It was her that helped me to get here today. She encouraged me to travel, she gave me the confidence to do it. She helped me make lists, pack my suitcase and took the day off work to come to the airport. It wasn't until way after I'd planned my trip that it dawned on me that I'd be absent on a day that is as special to me as it is to her, but I guess we'll just have to look forward to the 35th, the 40th, the 50th etc...we've often joked about what we'll be like when we're old. I doubt that much will be different, we'll still be sitting on the sofa, under blankets, jabbering, trashing bad programmes and reminiscing about how we've reminisced. Although, I don't think our aged bladders will be able to hold the amount of tea we drink now. And I'd just like to thank her husband for putting up with our ranting, storytelling and giggling and for letting his wife be my wife too.
So, as I can't post a current picture, here's a few of those great moments:
My birthday where she made me a cupcake for each year of my age
Fancy dress - I was some kind of feline, she was definitely a rabbit
Snow day/no work day! Me wearing the ridiculously large Mickey Mouse gloves she lent me
Happy Birthday, Kat. I miss you x
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