My Life on a Plate

Sarma

I dedicate this entry to the dearest online friend anyone could wish to have. She's been in my thoughts a lot over the last few days as her daughter, Annice, left Melbourne on Monday for an indefinite stay in the U.K. It's exciting, but for any mother it's hard when our chicks fly the nest and I hope I've been able to support her, as she has supported me on many occasions. I feel a bit guilty too as I was waxing lyrical about our gorgeous weather and now it's turned dull and drizzly. Still, if Annice stays over Christmas as planned, she'll see a lot worse than this.

I have five (of course) special friends online I've made through playing Scrabble...

1. Robyn - She lives in New Zealand; she and her husband run a woodcarving business and I've bought some beautiful things from her.

2. Mike - An elderly Welsh gentleman who is too good at Scrabble but I've learnt to forgive him when he beats me! lol His wife is handicapped and he's a wonderful househusband and carer for her.

3. Paul - my funny, sweet gentleman friend from Canada. He always makes me laugh and we share a lot of interests.

4. My absent friend who shall remain nameless as he has yet again gone AWOL with no explanation and I'm not sure if he'll remain on this list or not. I'd like him to, but I leave it in the lap of the Gods - Que Sera, Let it Be and all that.

5. Sarma - what can I say about this wonderful lady?

I came across Sarma one Saturday afternoon in 2001 in the Scabble rooms. I'd not long been playing the game and only in the evenings at that stage, mainly against Americans. With a rare bit of time to spare, I decided to just play one game before meeting my mum and to this day, I swear it was fate. I was thrilled to find myself playing my first opponent from Australia but as the game progressed and we got chatting, it was amazing how much we found we had in common. We're in the same age group, we're both writers, we've both studied ballet, had difficult relationships and have very similar personality traits. In fact in some ways we even look alike!

Rarely does a day go by when we don't chat and we have that instant understanding that bonds true friends. If we don't get to speak, we miss each other and sometimes I feel she's the only person I want to talk to when I feel troubled. The time differences are sometimes a pain; very often I'm ready for bed as she starts work and vice versa but I'm quite convinced we were meant to find each other. So, will we ever meet?

I cannot see myself being able to afford or tolerating a twenty hour flight, certainly not with hubby as Sarma and I would need some quality 'girly' time. But, I am hoping that her daughter will be able to visit us at some stage during her stay. What Sarma and I are secretly dreaming is that my good-looking twenty-three year old son, who fell in love with Australia when he visited and is planning on returning, will also fall in love with her beautiful nineteen old daughter. Sisters-in-Law (or something like that)- Sorted! Wedding here or in Aussie we haven't decided yet. lol Well, we're writers - we're allowed dreams and fantasies. Stranger things have happened though.

Whatever - Sarma is, and will be as long as I'm around, the dearest friend anyone could wish for. God Bless her and the forces that allowed us to find each other.