My Girlfriends

Friends come in different shapes and sizes. Some are there for you all the time, and some come and go from your life. Are you still friends with those that you went to school with? I consider that my life really started when I moved out of home and began on a path that was chosen by me, not by school and circumstance.
I also learnt a very simple lesson about friendship when at 26, I found myself suddenly single after having a boyfriend since early high school. Suddenly all my school friends were not there for me and I was alone. I learnt that friends are people who offer you a bookcase because they have a spare, loan you money until your tax cheque clears so you can move house. Those who know you when you're at your best and have seen you at your worst. Someone who is willing to travel from Australia to Austria because they asked you to be their maid of honour. A breakfast outing of bacon and eggs when said friend is an understanding vegan who knows what you're like without bacon. They are your friends.
I had a flatmate - knew her through a colleague at work, we lived together for 2 years, and recently I caught up with her for her 30th birthday. It was as though not a day had gone by since she moved out. The ease in conversation, or the silence in our conversations, the fun.. all still there. It didn't matter that she is married and now lives interstate. Friendship should mean picking up where you left off, no matter the distance - either time since you last saw each other or geographically.
2 girlfriends live in London We see each other for visits once a year, try to holiday when we go get together together, skype when we can but there is still distance between us - geographically. We have new and different friends and different lives, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Kudos to Mrs D, Miss JJ, Miss J, Mrs B and distant friends Miss Z, Mrs F, Miss V, Ms R.