My girlfriend Equinom and I have friends for 30 years. Yes I know…. incredible given that I’ve not yet had my 30th birthday party yet, but this factoid at least is true. We met in the first week of Grade 1 at St Martins…. .if memory serves correct, Equinom asked me if she could be my friend, and a precocious little blonde kid named Libby Free say she couldn’t because Equinom was already her friend. Needless to say, Libby ended up out of the loop and Equinom and I have been friends ever since. (wonder momentarily what happened to Libby Free… hmmmm…. nope dont really care). Anyway didn’t always hang out at school a lot (couldn’t stand the designer label, uptight crowd she used to hang with), but we lived a couple of streets apart and would frequently do stuff after school or on weekends. I have so many memories that involve Equinom, that it’s like she’s one of the family. She and Edouardo were always included in family dinners, and she even used to come away on family camping trips with us from time to time.
We’re a strange match really, both very stubborn, straight shooting type people, yet both into very different things. Equinom is in the Army reserve, currently studing Asian politics, likes hiking and bushwalking, has degrees in Law and Commerce, never wears makeup and works part time in the family butcher shop. Whilst I, strangely enough, the other hand would be very poorly suited to the military (not enough pink), couldn’t give a shit about Indonesia, not only is know to wears makeup, but likes jewellery and nail polish to boot, and knows nothing about butchery, except how to flirt with the butcher! But we seem to get along, and I think it’s largely due to being able to always rely on each other for an honest and non judgemental opinion. She’s also one of the most intelligent people of my acquaintance, yet occasionally displays the most absurd lack of common sense… that’s getting better as we get older, but it’s true that you can be very academic and yet not have a clue! I love her to bits and this week, I am missing her very much. She’s on a study junket to South Korea, and wont be back for a couple of weeks yet.
I think between Edouardo being in Cairns, Equinom being in South Korea, SirPhil in CanberraBabylon and MD in Quetta, I’ve not felt quite so alone as I have this week, for a very long time.