Hi Everyone!! I asked Jodes if I
could give her a night off and be ‘guest blogger’ for an evening.
As I’m sure you can appreciate – this is a little daunting after
the amusing, funny, insightful updates Jodes has blessed us with, but
nevertheless….here I am!
When thinking about ‘what to write
about’ many things went through my head (most of them at around 3am
wouldn’t you know it)! I could write about MS (boring), the
procedure (Jodes has touched on this) or my disability (snore). If
you’d like to hear about any of these things, please fire questions
at me in the comments section! I’m an open book!
Anyway – I decided I’d write
about my Jodie; how we met; our ‘journey’ (that sounds very
“X-Factor” doesn’t it) and so on. I have rewritten this after
reading Jodes (amazing) blog on Monday as I had written – virtually
word for word – what she had written (but from my perspective of
course)! We are very much a ‘mutual admiration’ society!
I take it that many of you don’t
know Jodes personally….more the pity for you. As you can probably
appreciate from her writing; Jodie is open, warm, loyal, fun (!),
inspiring….amazing. As she mentioned, we call each other our
‘no-but’ friend cos - you know how you can have great friends
but….‘they b*tch’; ‘they get annoying’; ‘they eat too
loud’….etc …well, with Jodie there is NO ‘but’. She is
just exceptional.
Again – as she mentioned, we met
about a b’zillion years ago when we were in our early 20’s. I
still remember the first time I met her – soooo nervous! She was
in a dark green pant suit (trust me – it was cool in the early
90’s) and was with the ‘cool kids’ at a Dragon Boat function.
She was fun, crazy, beautiful – the life of the party. I was
instantly in love with her (hey – keep it clean) in a best friend
kind of way! Come to think of it - I met most of my nearest and
dearest through the GC Dragons and they are still ‘my people’
today……(I have A LOT to thank Dragon Boating for)!
Anyway, through the Gold Coast
Dragons we became the best of friends. I love her family and we’ve
been with each other for most of life’s BIG events – weddings,
kids, houses, jobs. We’ve got a LOT of history.
Jodie and Adam (her hubby) packed up
and left for the USA in about 1999. They worked on a millionaire’s
yacht/boat for a few years, cruising around Martha’s Vineyard, the
Bahamas and the Caribbean …. Sound’s hideous right?
When she left, I honestly felt like
I had lost my right arm. It was DEVASTATING! I still remember her
going away party and I was inconsolable as we left….Ugh. It was
shattering. (Remember too – this was before facebook etc).
Thank God Adam brought her home to me….only for them to up sticks
and move to the island which, while only 100km away (if that) felt
like Western Australia! Sigh…luckily we’re stronger than any
distance (even though we’re both sh*t at phone calls)!
What else…oh – you may have
picked up…Jodes has a penchant for skinny dipping. It could be
because she’s always had an awesome body; maybe she’s just one
of those kindred Zen earth mother kinds….or maybe she’s nuts.
Off the top of my head, I remember:
- nights in New Zealand when our team was in 2 mini-buses and she would flash the other bus every time it went past …so freaking funny when you’re 24-ish;
- An evening skinny dipping down at Broadbeach after a particularly silly BBQ/party at Kurrawa;
- Getting her gear off at a camping site in Canberra after winning a National Title (I was WAY too drunk to join in);
- One night at her unit on Chevron Island a group of us all jumped into her apartment blocks (communal) pool nude at some ungodly hour….only to have the police pull up minutes after we had jumped in…
Hmmm…..perhaps this alcohol ban
thing does have its benefits…..
I personally am not much of a
drinker now …unless we’re talking about coffee. I get really
self-conscious about my gait and falling over…I can’t get to the
loo in a hurry, can’t dance, and can’t stand/mingle (and who
wants to get stuck talking to the girl sitting in the corner
right?!). So now, I’m really only comfortable drinking with
friends at home...and since 80% of my friends live 2,000km’s
away….it’s hard to have them round for a bevvy or 2.
I (romantically) think I was a good
drinking buddy...I loved hitting the dance floor…loved
organising get togethers…loved boozy lunches…all that stuff.
But the more I think about it...I also think I may have been a bit of
a crier (ever had THAT friend?!)....and early on, I was so obsessed
with my looks (or lack of) that I possibly spent way too much time in
the ladies loo reapplying lipstick - badly! Mind you – there was
always a good D&M to get involved with in the ladies loo at
Billies on a Saturday night.
But seriously….who knows - it's
all a bit foggy!! I do know I had a LOT of laughs, a LOT of really
funny adventures and I was/am a big hugger so it can't all have been
bad.
It’s ironic that I'm having a
happy hour fund-raiser here in Mt Gambier in February while Jodes is still abstaining. Good thing
she’s 3 states away! I might have to have a sneaky G&T for
her!
As you can imagine, once this
procedure is done and dusted, I am SO looking forward to having a
celebratory drink (or 10) with Jodie and ‘our people’ because I
have a feeling there will be a LOT of celebrating to be had; lots of
laughs; some tears; a possible skinny dip; perhaps even some
chin-up/push up comps....but that’s another story.
Thanks for having me and for your
support – for me and my beautiful Jodie. Mary xx
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