My gem of a friend

We are not the type of girlfriends who say sweet, endearing things like miss ya, love ya, nor are we gal pals who are generous with hugs. Or write "oh so touching" cards. Those stuff have never really been part of our friendship.

So writing this is kind of a milestone in our 21 years of friendship! It feels weird cos this is so not us but what the heck, it's your birthday! So this is for you, to affirm what a gem of a friend you are.

Thanks for being a fiercely loyal friend. For being there for me through my teenage angst, breakups, disappointments, struggles.

You say that I am your voice of reason. I say you are my voice of truth. Thanks for being blatantly honest. For speaking the truth in love. You know when I'm making excuses or running away and you help me confront my "dark side" so that I can overcome.

Thanks for making me laugh. LIKE CRAZY. You are just so full of crap. The kind of crap which makes life more bearable on a not so good day. Good crap.

But most of all, thanks for being a lover of God. I'm pretty sure I won't be where I am in my walk with God without you. You show me what it is to love Him, trust Him and cling on to Him even when the journey is tough.

I can go on and on but I think it's wise to stop now lest it gets mushier and it'll be weird and I'll be too embarrassed. And you'll probably switch off when it gets too wordy!!

So here's wishing you a blessed birthday. And to top off this uncharacteristic behaviour, here's me saying "Love ya, dearest friend!"