Friends

I have been lucky over the years to count so many wonderful women as my friends.

I learnt the true meaning of friendship back in year 8, when the girls in my 'friendship' group decided to 'exclude' me several times just for the fun of it. The result of which led me to a new group of friends, that lasted well beyond school and many of which I still stay in contact with and hold dear to my heart.

There are the friends who I met at work and have become so much more than colleagues.
The friends I met through other friends and the mutual friendship grew into our friendship.
The friends I met while travelling as we shared explored new places together.
The friends I met through my mothers groups and the bond that grows as your children grow together.

Each one of you has made a difference in my life and even though I am far away from so many of you, I know when I do see you again, it will be like no time has passed and the conversation will flow as we catch up and share our stories.

I was watching tv a number of years ago, and the comedian Dave Hughes made the comment (and forgive the political incorrectness) that his wife loved her mothers group the way fat people love cake.

And that is exactly how I feel about my friends. My life would be so much less of a life without you, my friends in it.

And my reason for writing this down, is that as I sit here reflecting on the life we have been building in Ottawa since August, I am incredibly thankful for three amazing women.

Emma, Dina and Olivia. You have become my 'family', my 'go to girls', my 'rocks'. I am so incredibly lucky to be able to count the three of you as friends, to have you in my life here. I would be so incredibly homesick without you. You are amazing women, with huge hearts and open arms, that have embraced me and my girls and given us the support and friendship we needed to find our feet in a foreign country.

Christmas is not the same without family around, and I am so happy that I get to spend Christmas with the three of you and your families. You are my Canadian family. Thankyou for your friendship, the laughs, the chats, the coffee and the playdates.

J xxx