The love of a lifetime in A new era

My best friend is moving to Norwich and I’m so incredibly sad.

I think when I’m an old lady and people ask me about true love, my girlfriends will beat any boy to the top of the list. My relationships with my friends are my most successful and enduring relationships.

I know she’s not going to the end of the earth, just a few hours away, not even a different time zone. And I’ll probably see just as much of her, her husband has his business here and obviously all their family is here so they’ll be back and forth.

She is the one person who has been there through thick and thin. All the many many dates with the many many boys, I would ring her on the way home to dissect the minute details. When I lived with a boy when I was 18-21, he took her on too, and our bathroom was filled with her stuff. We quite often went out as a 3, or a 4 with his friend.

I’m the only person who can make her cry, she’s not a crier but I have made her cry on more than one occasion. She’s the first person I told when mum was ill, and she came round when she finished work, with wine, and we sat at the table in the kitchen and she just talked to me, and listened to me, and didn’t think I was being dramatic when the whole conversation was held through my tears.

I put her in her wedding dress, 3 years ago, I was there the night she met dave, or rather the night dave spilt his pint on her and she nudged me and said, I think this is one for you! Luckily I gracefully declined - the fact that he only had eyes for her made it pretty easy in fact!

And last night, when I went to see her before she left, she said that joey had text her going on about how much he loves me. I’m assuming that wasn’t the entire purpose of the conversation, but she didn’t elaborate except to say that she might have told him where I keep my nans engagement ring after she’d had a drink. And now she’s buggered off to Norwich, cackling all the way, having been party to some kind of conversation I could have gotten out of her if she was here to get drunk!

I’m gonna miss her more than I can say. Being able to pop down the road to see her whenever I want. I think it’s been so easy to take that for granted, I guess you assume that’ll be the situation forever.

Xx