Angels

Some recent events have made me think very hard about what I hold most dear in life. One such event was the birth of the munchkin. The other is the prospect of being parted from one of my closest and dearest friends.

You see, I believe that sometimes we pick our friends and other times we get picked as friends. Very rarely these events take place simultaneously and the results are very special. I have had a handful of such encounters and consider myself very lucky to have these angels with me through thick and thin. Hence my sadness as one of these angels is soon to depart to pastures anew over the pond.

This special lady and her beautiful family have supported me through trying times over the past 10 years. Not everyone would drive a 70 mile round trip just to help a friend worm her newly acquired cat. I also recall a time when I was stuck in a hotel in Kent feeling lonely and miserable only for this angel to appear for the sole purpose of whisking me off to her favourite Chinese restaurant in Sevenoaks for a meal...what I haven't mentioned is that she was working in Suffolk at the time and drove back the same night! The same angel bought me a Christmas Teddy (called Tennyson) so I wouldn't have to spend Chirstmas on my own following the end of a long term relationship.

Since Munchkin has been born, we have been spending Fridays together as "ladies that lunch". She has been everything from my strength (when I was alone at home with munchkin and he was ill and in tears), to my sanity (I can always count on her to tell me that everything will be fine....eventually!). She is also my source of confidence that we are giving munchkin a good start in life...letting him cry isn't going to cost us lots of dosh in therapists bills and it will all pay off. She tells me "well done!" when I need to hear it and gives me a hug when it is just what I need...even if I don't know it yet. She is the closest thing I have to family in this country, an aunty for Munchkin and sister for me. Her girls, I love as my own.

For this my dearest friend, I thank you. You have and always will be an inspiration. I will miss you dearly and am already planning an expedition to Houston...so watch out...you can run but you can't hide!!!