Helen My Best Friend

Helen is hysterical, so witty you laugh until you cry, She’s a little spit-fire, 4 foot 11 -- a bit of a short fry, Now I can say that because she knows it’s said in jest, There is no finer person, as a friend she is truly my best. We met while nursing where we had so much fun, Managing to laugh at work yet still get the job done. While we have switched jobs and moved to a different place, We are only as far away as it takes to pack our suitcase. At my Mom and Dad’s funeral I was lost and very sad, She sat by my side, filling in as family that I no longer had. Always there in my life for the very best and worst of times, If I need her, she gets to me, over obstacles she climbs, Following major surgery she came to nurse me to health, Her kindness, compassion and care, is her greatest wealth She babysat my children and made my favourite meal, Kraft dinner and homemade applesauce, oh what a deal. She said I needed a pick me up, so she bought hair dye, Slowly applying the hair colour, careful not to get in my eye. When my hair went purple and ended up a flashy, brillant red, She said you don’t need a mirror, just know you don’t look dead. Our husbands understand our bond, having been through so much, We never miss a birthday, Christmas or any reason to stay in touch, I sometimes feel guilty as it seems she is always there to help me, She’ll say “Oh don’t be so silly, it’s just because I love you Lee” I never feel so good as I do when I am with my friend Helen, Together we’ve nursed patients and even the occasional felon, We met on my first nursing job and she became my best friend, Some forty years later, our longtime friendship still has no end. Dedicated to my best friend Helen Tilden Written July 21, 2011 For contest “Ode to a friend” Won 6th Place