the oldest is often one of the best

Tonight I want to pay dues to Lc. I first set eyes on her when I was just eight years old. She sat on my garden wall looking longingly over at my little set up of dolls and tea party. I smiled shyly and said my hello's but ventured no further. The my dear, intuitive mother stepped in, and for that I thank her. This moment proved to be the moment I found my oldest and one of my dearest friends. She had recently moved into a house just a few doors away and was very much a lost soul. He mother recently separated from her father and taking up with a "funny sort". She has the most amazing strawberry blond hair and looked a little like an elf. A friendship began. This was cemented over the years. We went on may an adventure and often found ourselves in outrageous scrapes. But she has always been a source of endless laughter. She is also a fabulous reality check. When I self analize and moither over the silly things she is one of the few who can laugh and say "get a grip girl!" . When talking to her of woes and troubles she is always the first to sympathise and then make me see the irony.
As we have grown we have grown apart and back together again. Our circle of friends often differ. We have very little, superficially, in common. But! She knows the very soul of me. The day P and I went our separate ways she seemed to some how know there was something amiss. She rang, out of the blue. We laughed, I cried, we made plans that never came to fruition. She knew though that I needed to just sit and make those plans. I have covered her back over the years, she has always been the naughty one... she has put me back together.
She has dealt with so much and I have listened. When the father of he daughter left her destitute I went the 120 mile to fetch her. She would do the same and I would do it again and again.
We do not speak often and I have not actually seen her for nearly three years. But I don't need to. She is always there. In the background. I will always be there for her.
Still I would not be surprised to find her on my doorstep at 6 am with a smirk on her face and mischief in her eye. That is my dear, dear Lc. Always the naughty, lovable child. But in all this she is the strongest, most level headed of remarkable women. A joy to behold and a blessing to know.
I named my little Angel after her...
In all this we must not forget her daughters F & M. beautiful, bright, shining stars....just like their mum x