Steph & Jack
Sunday 1 November 2015
I met Steph in Middle School; while will have been the year 2000. Meaning out friendship has lasted 15 years! She's my oldest friend.
I don't remember a lot of Middle School or any of my friends from that time but I've seen photos of Steph and I sharing a room on the field trips, laughing and crying on our last day there.
She and I went to different High Schools and so we inevitably lost touch for those three years. Once I was excluded from High School, and tried to deal with my trauma, I lost a lot of friends. It was understandable; no one knew what had happened to me and therefore why I was acting the way I was. I fell into a bad crowd. And when I fell out of it, Steph was there to help me get back to my feet.
It was the summer holidays of 2007 and her family owned a sweet shop, so between there and the derelict buildings at the beach, we spent our summer. In September, I then went to her school for Sixth Form (A Levels). Steph was the only friend I had. Yet she was enough. Right from the offset, she's been one of those friends who will go out of their way to help you. And even when I made other friends, Steph was always there.
When I was first admitted to a psychiatric hospital, she was one of my first visitors with sachets of hot chocolate and a bar of dairy milk!
And when I lost one of my best-friend's to suicide, Steph was there with her new flat and three day party! I remember waking up on he settee and drinking a Cosmo for breakfast.
I've never told Steph this, but a massive... Not a 'regret' but... Something that I wish hadn't been the case, was that I was taken into hospital in Bradford, just as she delivered Jack in Newcastle. Her first baby and I missed his first few days. But you'd better be sure that at the first opportunity on a home leave, I met him...
I've always wanted to be an Auntie but I have no brothers or sisters and it was so rewarding to have Steph call me 'Auntie Aimee' when referring to me with Jack. And to this day, she goes out of her way to help me. Once she drove all over to bring me a new charger for my phone when I was in hospital. And she brought Jack and a McDonalds once to hospital for me.
I've tried to follow Jack's growing up and support Steph as best I can but I hope that with my recovery, I can join in a lot more!
Because just like his mummy, Jack has made me smile countless times.