The worst poker player in the village...

I have a friend who I have known for a few years now.

He, yes is a he, knows me very well. I met him when living abroad and he will recognise himself here I am sure.

As a friend, he has always been very supportive, wise and empowering. He, among other friends, has encouraged me to write, to be true to myself and be happy.

This friend is very special to me and will always have a place in my heart.

He has over the years listened to me about the state of my marriage. He never judged, he just listened and when necessary offered appropriate advice. He never told me to leave my husband, even though he probably knew how unhappy I was. He was just someone to support me, without recrimination and let me make my own conclusions and decisions.

He has also been there through the last few months, albeit through the wonder of Facebook, email and on at least one occasion calling me to make sure I was surviving just after my soon to be ex-husband left the country.

We do not have the pleasure of seeing each other very often, in fact I possibly haven't seen him for nearly three years now, but he is always there...and I want to say thank you to him. For the times he texted out of the blue because he instinctively knew something wasn't right; for encouraging me when I needed it and for never giving up on his belief in me.

I told you I was very lucky with my friends didn't I?

Yesterday he and I had a quick catch up...he noticed a difference in me immediately, and said that he could feel the sun shining through my messages. A very clear difference as to what I was like just six months ago.

We shot the breeze a while and I caught up him with recent events in my life... I tried very hard to be cool, calm and collected, but he saw through me straight away.

"You'll never make a poker player babe." He messaged me back. "LOL..."

He is of course right. I am a terrible liar and am no good at bluffing. I am a bit of an open book and tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. I don't always get it right, but I would rather fail or falter with honesty than with a lie.

So here in blog world I say a big thank you to him.

You do know who you are and it is possible that others may recognise you too. I only hope that I have been a good a friend to you as you have been to me, as I know it has been been one sided for a long time, and you have never made me feel bad about that.

Thankfully I am on the way up in a very positive way and whilst I won't need a shoulder to cry on I hope for a very long time to come, if at all, please always be in my life...because you really helped me get this far.