Ode to a Lifelong Friend

We were 6 when we first met,

in the classroom I'd be starting in after the summer holidays.

You smiled and asked if I wanted to play house.

We were 8 when we went horse riding for your birthday,

and I was the biggest there, so I had to get the biggest horse. I was too scared.

You and your dad took me back a week later so I could try a smaller one.

We were 12 when we started high school,

in different registration classes, but that only meant making new friends.

You introduced me to another lifelong friend.

We were 13 in Paris,

teaching the ‘Big Fish, Little Fish’ dance to a French pizza delivery driver.

You tried breaking the bathroom door down when I had a panic attack on the last night.

We were 15 when you got your first boyfriend,

and I wasn't sure what to do with myself.

You were growing up, coming into your own.

We were 17, taking our exams,

fretting about the future and what it would hold after our school days were over.

You had choices to make, and so did I.

We were 19, living in different places,

I was at Uni and you were at college, both of us on the paths we wanted to be.

You were getting ready to start your career.

We were 21, starting to feel like proper adults now,

realising that no one actually knows what they are doing.

You had found your soulmate, though.

We were 23, and that soulmate asked you to marry him,

then you asked me to stand by your side as you said ‘I do’.

You told me you couldn’t imagine the day without me up there with you.

We were 25, feeling neither young nor old,

but realising that our friendship had spanned almost two decades.

You were just thrilled I finally got into my first relationship.

We were 27 when I walked down the aisle ahead of you,

ready to watch you marry the love of your life.

You were transcendent, a most stunning bride.

We were 29 when your little boy was born,

a tiny, soft bundle, warm and snoozing in my arms.

You called me the morning after he was born, still in the hospital bed, the first friend to know.

We are 30 now, over twenty years of friendship,

steadfast in the way life pushes and pulls you, anchoring one another throughout.

You helped to shape every part of me.