Ok my turn to write about my Dear Ones. I had held off for ages on writing this post because I wasn’t really sure who I should write about. In the end I’ve decided to write about my best childhood friend who I have now lost touch with as she moved to Perth to study at Uni.

I first met Erika at gymnastics training, on the beam. I remember it clearly, she was a new girl and no one had said hello to her yet. I made sure I said hello to every new person so I went over and said hi. We hit it off together instantly

One incident I remember really well was when we were in the gymnasium waiting for our turn on the bars, usually Erika & I would talk, play clapping games, and laugh a lot! Well this day we found a star shape cut out of light brown leather just lying on the ground. As it didn’t seem to belong to anyone we claimed it and named it ’starry’ it was our cute little mascot we carried with us to gymnastics competitions and we used to keep it at our house for 1 week at a time, with swap over time on Thursdays after gymnastics training.

I guess the reason she was always my best friend was we had so much in common, in fact we were insanely similar. We really could have been twins personality wise and boy did we share similar type Dad’s as well

In the summer time I would go swimming training straight after my gymnastics training, and since I swum outdoors I would get a really brown tan.. and wearing gymnastics leotards which were a different cut from my bathers the tan lines were quite obvious. I remember Erika would get us to stand side-by-side and we would ask someone who had the darkest back. Every summer I won, and I never knew why she liked it when I was browner than her.

Erika

Whenever we went around to each other’s houses to play it was always ‘weddings’ (complete with wedding dresses, kissing the groom etc) with dolls acting everything out of course. Or we played ‘competitions’ anything and everything could be competed for, with Erika or my Mum’s having to decided the winner or loser. Erika & I always lost to our younger sisters Anissa & Celine that’s how it goes when you compete against younger sisters and your parents judge! I guess it was because the younger you are the more likely you are to cry at a loss

The things Erika & I had totally in common are as follows -

• First of all our Dad’s were both teachers at high school. enough said if you have ever had a teacher for a Dad! (very embarrassing in other words)
• We were both fairly small when we were younger, but by the time we were about 14yrs old Erika had shot past me, I can only guess at how tall she might be today!
• We never, ever answered the phone. I remember one day at Erika’s house the phone rang and we both ran into her room and locked the door! hehe!
• Add to never answering the phone, never actually ringing anyone on the phone either! all correspondence between us was with our little sisters doing the ‘dirty work’ of ringing the phone. We would both stand next to them and repeat what they were to say over the phone.
• Getting hot cakes we had cooked out of ovens was another no-no. We shrieked for Erika’s Dad or Clare when we were at my house.
• She would also make complete wedding outfits for her Barbie dolls, just as I did.
• We both wanted to be fashion designers or architects. from a very young age.
• We would organize Celine’s birthday parties together.
  And many, many more wonderful things I have forgotten with time.

One thing that I never realized till I was 18 years old was that Erika was Indian. I know that sounds really weird but it’s true. All I thought was that she had pretty brown skin. I never thought about how she had Aunties in Sarees at her house a lot, That she went on Holidays to Mumbai with her Family, That she showed me the pretty clothes she had from India, That we used to play with all her bangles, That her Mum & Dad had Indian accents. nothing she was just Erika to me. I do remember Anissa telling Celine never to go to India… Anissa apparently was way too shocked with the difference between Australia & India. I guess that is because she was only 8yrs old.

The last time I saw Erika was Celine’s 13th birthday party (2002). We tried to catch up in 2005 with each other but different schedules just didn’t allow for it Every so often I see her Mum & Dad at the Indian restaurant where I work and when I saw her Mum last year she told me that Erika chose to study Architecture! wow our childhood ambitions were both followed! the funny thing is she always loved fashion design a bit more as a career, and I Architecture

Anyway, sorry for the disjointed post. I just wrote as it came to me