the very best of friends (vol.2)

We met at University, through a mutual friend. She had been off doing the London thing, I had been very much in Cape Town, doing the Cape Town thing I guess. She seemed quite exotic and wild, made me feel a little pedestrian and stay-at-home.
We sealed our friendship in an unlikely and fortuitous meeting late one night. A cat had run out in front of her car, she thought she'd hit it, but the kitty had fled, and she was distraught at the thought that it could be hiding somewhere, injured and afraid.
I drove past as she ran, white-faced, across the road. I pulled over and we spent some time 'here, kitty, kitty- ing' in surrounding gardens, 'til I persuaded her that the lucky cat must've escaped unscathed.

She's a tough old thing, my now very, very good friend. She self-assured and independent, ballsy and unafraid to tackle anything which comes her way. She's intimidating, I've had people confess to being not a little scared of her, she's a quintessential Type A, competitive and successful at everything she does. She's beautiful, which can be intimidating in itself, and has an impeccable sense of style.
But that late night meeting allowed me to see her other side, one which she keeps a little more guarded. She's kind, really kind, and considerate and generous, wildly generous. If she's with you she's with you to the end (if she's against you - well, you may as well just quit now) and she has the biggest, soppiest soft spot when it comes to kitties (she and her husband currently have 5!), refugees and friends.

Our friendship is one of those which runs so deep that no pissy little thing like living in different cities (or even different continents), can weaken it. We've stood side by side through the worst of times, we've danced side by side through the best. We've worked side by side 'til we thought we'd drop dead from exhaustion and through it all we've laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
We're in very different places in our lives right now - she's an international business lady, I'm a part-time working stay-at-home Mum - but still we get each other in a way that few other people ever will. Still we need to check in with each other, to make sense of the world, to make each other laugh in the way that only we can.

And now this buddy, this Ultimate friend, this woman who has given me some of the most beautiful things I own, is once more overwhelming me with her generousity. She's taking me to London for 10 days in October! To work, and play, and pretend to be an international business lady too.

Jeez, I must be a great friend!