There are a plethora of average friends in this world. Friends who only stick around for the good times or what they can get out of it for themselves. Friends who turn out to be shallow and selfish when push comes to shove. Friends who get uptight for no good reason and create unnceccesary dramas.

Then there are friends like you. You’ve nursed me through head damage caused by the opposite sex, helped me endure the betrayal of false friends, comforted me through anxiety and uplifted me in times of depression. Because it’s the friends that are there to catch you when the ground falls from under you that matter the most. The friends you can be yourself around, not only when you’re feeling fabulous, but also when you’re feeling vulnerable and fragile.

Then there’s the fun we’ve had. So much fun. The summer at Third Avenue we spent fake tanning, drinking wine, discussing life and counting male conquests. There were the “community service shorts” that gave whiplash to all the men that drove past you; picnics at Hyde Park, the time you hit the brakes, skidded along the road and ran up the kerb, after quickly deciding that yes we needed wine and had to made a sharp turn towards the bottle shop that we had already past; getting “out wide”; putting in the velcro rollers and hitting town; amusing ourselves with people’s “roll outs”; and redoing the tarot cards over and over until we were happy with what they said, or trying a different pack, because “that deck must be shit”.

I knew as soon as I met you that you were fabulous. I was struck by your beauty and the other worldly aura you have about you. Getting to know you, I have come to cherish your wisdom, intellect, quick wit and the way you look at life, because like you, I get frustrated with the lack of people who are willing to step outside societal expectations to live the life they really want to live, and the judgement on those who do.

You have helped me to become who I am today. You liberated me from what everyone else expected of me, and gave me the confidence to follow my heart (sounds like a tacky Hallmark card, but it’s true). I am a different person because I have known you.

Happy Birthday Darling. You are the “Gov”.

XX