Diary of and NDIS Worker Day 19

 25/11/2024

Dear Diary,

Today I spent 7 1/2 hours with C.

We went to an op shop. Oh what fun we had.

Yesterday friends came to visit.

One brought Sunflowers and news that they have bought a house.

The other brought news that The Spanish Dancer has arrived in their life.

When they left.

I felt the full weight of their news.

My Sunflower Friend will move interstate next year to work and live in their new house. I shall visit them. But will miss them too. The friendship is rich and rare - we arrived at the friendship via conversations we would have - me leaning on the fence of my old apartment - street level - a revelation of connectivity- my friend riding past - home from a long shift at work.

My Sunflower friend has the ability to sit still - listen with an unflinching intensity. We talk often about serendipitous moments, the way that roadside pieces of furniture - appear at precisely the right time. The way that when adversity hits we use the well worn practice of holding the line.. knowing that we have the ability to get through.

My Spanish Dancer friend - I have known for many years.. through the gruelling early years of parenting, to the exasperation of teenage years, to having adult kids each bringing their own twist on what it is to be a mother.

The well of sadness that they may not be here for much longer, is counterbalanced by the infinite joy to  have them in my life. Our greeting is always a belly laugh in anticipation of the sheer joy of spending time with each other. 

We have our own language and have had many long meandering conversations of shared wisdom and infinite love for each other. Often conversations are a revelation - we learn what it is to be a mother and a friend and to be with partners old and new...