An Ode To My Best Friend

I sometimes wonder what life would be
If you weren't standing next to me
My cousin, my friend, my ride or die
It's simple really – life would've been dry!

Because you, my darling, made our childhood such fun
Side by side, always together, we were as one.
From Sundays at Nonna’s roller skating in the park
To sleepovers together staying awake in the dark!

We lived to be famous, adoring Take That – I worshipped Howard, your fancy was Mark
Walls full of posters, the boys on TV, we’d sing and we’d dance ‘til our parents would bark!
All that we were was all that we wanted to be
Those were the days, so young and carefree!

Holidays abroad to Italy and France
Annoying 'I Parenti' at any given chance!
Sneaking out when we shouldn't, finding Parisian nightclubs
Knowing the next morning we'd feel like Witchetty Grubs!

Always there for each other as life moved on
Navigating life after the grown-ups had gone.
It wasn't easy, life was hard – but we always knew,
We had each other – our bond was true.

As life got busier and our families grew
Time together grew shorter and more long overdue.
But that’s never mattered to us anyway
We simply pick up where we left off – no delay!

Now it’s phone calls, WhatsApps, FaceTimes and voice notes
Flying visits with the children, speed talking the keynotes!
But in that short time together, we are giggling, being silly and free
Like school kids again – just grown up now, drinking tea!

We're still supporting each other through the good and the pain
Through the losses that break us – when life is a drain
I always have you and you always have me
The light in the dark, clearing through the debris.

We're now into our forties, not sure how that can be
A lifetime of memories for you and for me!
Now living hundreds of miles apart
Our minds and lives full – but still fifteen at heart!

You're still my best friend and I am still yours
The love we have for each other doesn’t flow, it pours!
We may have changed, grown older, grown some flubber
But know this, I would not choose to have this lifetime with another!