MySingleFriend

Elissa said...

Amy grabs life and runs with it like no one else I know and is the first one in on any mad plan. Whitewater rafting, despite a drought? She'll roll her eyes, but she'll be there. Once, in a fit of pique with a taxi driver, I dragged her from one side of Kathmandu to the other on public transport, with luggage, just to save two quid. She didn't say a word until after a few stiff drinks at the other end, whereupon she told me I was an idiot but I should've seen the driver's face. Which is not to say she's a push over. 17 years I've known her, 17 years I've mocked her pronunciation of yog-hurt (as opposed to yo-ghurt), and yet she remains steadfast in her yog-hurting ways. She's also honest. When, after too many holiday pastries, she mistook my paunch for my travel documents, I appreciated her gale of laughter infinitely more than some lame-arsed cover up.

Her sense of humour is legendary and her wit is sharp, feed by her intrigue in anything unfamiliar. At uni, she chose French and Anatomy as electives in her Economics degree, just because they interested her. I once saw her hold a three hour conversation with a new acquaintance about marine biodiversity in the Great Barrier Reef because she didn't know much about it.

Of course, she's not perfect. I don't recommend sunglasses shopping with her, and the time she made the Baskin and Robbins girl dig the pralines and cream icecream from the back of the freezer and then bought a kiddie cone was one of the more embarrassing moments of my life. But she's also been there for some of the best moments too - dancing badly to Sir Mixalot in the rain at my outdoor wedding, standing at Machu Picchu after we'd both survived ferocious altitude sickness, eating boiled eggs at 4am after a big night out when we lived together, being the first two people to meet a good friend's new baby boy. She's a top human being with excellent table manners and I'm so proud to be her friend.