BFFs

AB.

I kept this one little reason off of my Top 10 List for a reason. This little monkey and the relationship she shares with my daughter will without a doubt be one of the things I miss most about living in New York. I met her parents almost 4 years ago, during the first days of medical school orientation in Newcastle, England. We lived in the same building in Newcastle, then in the same house in Grenada, where her mom and I both got pregnant within months of each other. Our daughters met when we both moved to New York, when E was 3 1/2 months old and AB just a few days old. When AB was 7 months old her mom went back to school and I started looking after her part time.

They took to each other from day one. They would light up as soon as AB walked in the door. They would laugh and squeal and hug and kiss each other until they were unwillingly forced apart at the end of the day. And it hasn't gotten old yet. E knows that Friday is the day we look after AB now, and she is always asking when Friday is coming. She hands me the phone and asks me to call her. She screams and dances around when AB finally shows up. She feeds her water. She feeds her snacks. She shows her all of her new tricks. She's hit and miss on the sharing, but we're working on it.

AB is E's best friend in the whole world. I don't know what they will do without each other, and I'm dreading the time when I have to explain to E that we won't be hanging out with AB on Fridays anymore. Of course, who knows what will happen, but they are likely staying in New York and we are likely not. We will keep in touch, and they will see each other again, but it won't be the same. This will be E's first experience of moving away and leaving the people and places she loves behind. I'm not sure who it will be harder on, but I'm stocking up on kleenex.