We'd booked a date to meet up some months ago. She was coming to Perth for a flying visit. When she'd texted to ask me I almost broke a nail replying "YES!"
It's been a year since we've seen each other.
Yesterday it didn't matter a damn. We might as well have seen each other last week.
That's the kind of friendship we have.
For almost two years she has been living up North with her husband and the kids and it has been very tough. I've admired how she's gritted her teeth and thrown herself into a very different life up there. I've watched her climb the career ladder while coping with a husband who is away three weeks out of four and two small children.
She's done it because she's had to, she certainly wouldn't have chosen it. But she's done it with style and grace.
Throughout the time she's been away we've both endured various crises or disasters. And every single time we pick up the phone and call each other. Neither of us takes the call. We don't need to. Because just the very act of ringing and seeing the familiar and much loved name on the phone makes the problem seem just a bit less insurmountable. Sometimes love and friendship goes beyond voices.
Both of us started out as exhausted mothers who met over a truckload of marking. Our paths have diverged considerably since then, but our friendship has flourished despite, or maybe because of it.
We've shared secrets that we'll take to our graves, we've entered competitions together genuinely hoping the other would win, we've gossiped over weight, fashion and men. We "get" each other and don't judge .
So yesterday, we hugged each other fiercely. We ordered coffee, chatted, shopped and had pedicures together. All the stuff neither of us has the time to do.
But when it comes to each other,
we make time.
I hope we always will.