Happy Birthday, Nicole!!!!!!!!!!!!

My dear and darling friend Nicole is turning younger than me today. Celebrate, won't you?

I met Nicole when I was first married. My boss had a suite in one of those executive office suite places where you rent an office and the company provides all the other trappings of a fully staffed office: phone reception, copiers, conference room, that sort of thing. Nicole worked at the front desk. We took an immediate shine to each other. We got each others jokes and sarcastic way of looking at things. We quickly started doing things together outside of the office.

By the time I had The Child she had moved on to more interesting pastures and was working on her master's degree. She was one of The Child's first baby sitters. I went back to work part-time (for a while) when the baby was 6 weeks old and Nicole was the one who came to stay with her. The only thing that kept me from losing my mind over leaving my baby was the knowledge that she was with someone who loved her almost as much as I did.

Nicole's studies took her to France, where she met and fell in love with her husband. I was happy for her, having knowledge of her romantic history and how deserving she was of a good man who loved her with the same passion that she brought to the relationship. But I was also broken hearted when she became engaged to him because it meant she was now going to be staying half a world away. This did not make me happy. It still doesn't, but I cope.

She brought him to Seattle to meet "the family", as it were, and we had a lovely dinner. Her future husband was very cute and charming, as you'd expect a Frenchman to be and we had a delightful time. Up to this point I'd been hemming and hawing about attending her wedding, only because I have issues with flying. I wanted to be with her but....

In the course of the evening her fiance turned to me, appropos of nothing, fixed me with his gorgeous brown Frenchman eyes and said, in a very thick accent, "Lorraine, I know you do not like to fly but I hope you will come to be at our wedding". Bastard. Turns out, you can't say "no" to limpid brown French eyes.

And so, of course, we went to the wedding and we had a glorious time and in another year or so we'll be back, when we take The Child to spend the summer with them.

Since she's been gone she's had 2 children and mine has grown into a teenager. A lot has happened. But through the auspices of the internets and phones we've stayed in touch. We've managed to not just know the essentials of life - births and job changes and moves - but all the little things that keep 2 people really connected. When we talk on the phone it feels like she's just down the street and that nothing has changed, even when everything has.

I love Nicole. She's a treasure. And I'm very glad she was born and that is worth celebrating. Joyeux anniversaire, mon cher ami!