Because I knew you

E, you were right it was all Angela’s fault she told me to friend you and I did. One of the best things I ever did in my life.

Then there was a call for a beta, you said you would but warned me you were tough and you hoped you wouldn’t offend. I still have those emails though. It meant so much to me that you would take your time to not only beta for me but teach me about grammar. You’ve never stopped those lessons and though I am still not the best I’m much better- oh, and I’ve stopped using adverbs!

Over the next few months our friendship built, there was NaNoWriMo and countless online hours spent developing TBN. There were interviews with Trish Morningside, squeeing on the phone, the cliché love affair of Kathleen and Mitch, plots to take over the world, and secret meetings in Wyoming, Idaho, and Arizona. Each step of the way you proved to be as big of a nerd, geek, wacko, that I was.

Then came the first trip. Where you drove all the way to North Carolina to meet me. I was so nervous that night, what would happen if a woman who was slowly becoming one of my best friends hated me. I shouldn’t have been worried. You knew me so well by then you gave me a time turner, which I still wished worked and which is displayed in my bedroom to remind me that there are those out there who support me.

North Carolina wouldn’t prove to be the longest distance you would travel to see me. There was Florida, where we only had a few short hours together and where the California trip idea was formed, then there was New England and that magical day and a half with Patty exploring, not to mention our first picture together (which is displayed on my desk). Then it was my turn to come out and visit you. I loved that you offered your home, life and family to me at a time I needed it most. That vacation saved me on so many levels, I don’t think you will ever know.

E there are so many things now that remind me of you. I love that we can skip through subjects like wildfire only to return to them an hour later like no time has passed. I love that each conversation is started out with a tackle/hug/tacklehug, I love 6 AM squeeing phone calls, I love that we have the same twisted sense of humor, I love that you let me be me and that you accept me for my Hufflepuff self. We do prove that a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin can be friends and have a beautiful friendship at that.

So my friend, happy birthday! Here is to more adventures, more looking for bridges, more hours of Torchwood, more chasing your dogs, more spontaneous trips, more plotting to control the world, more tacklehugs, more Thelmas, more random bursts of laughter, more permagrins, and more us.