Luce

True friendship isn't about being inseparable, it's about being separated and nothing changes

Luce has been my best friend since we were about 12 years old (we met when we were 11, but I didn't like the girl she hung out with that year!). When I think about my teenage years so many of my happiest memories involve Lucy: holidays together in France, hiking in the mountains, hiding under the benches in Chemistry so we didn't have to do experiments, skipping classes to play tennis (no idea how we kept getting away with that!), hanging out in jazz bars being bought drinks by 70 year old men, starting a band that would definitely have made us famous, if only it wasn't for our flakey drummer... We were totally joined at the hip, I even endured a week of hell in Belgium on a French language exchange because I couldn't bear the thought of a week in school without her! I have a photobook that Luce made for me for my 21st birthday, with lots of photos of those schooldays, and I still crack up with laughter every time I look through it, it's one of my absolute favourite possessions.

Luce has lived in Scotland for the past 10 years, and although she's been fairly nearby this summer for a short contract, our schedules have meant we've only managed to spend a couple of days together. Tomorrow she heads home, so she very kindly drove all the way from Derry to Comber to see me for a couple of hours after my shoot this evening. Even though we don't chat very often, when we meet it's always like we've never been apart - we could be 14 again, sitting on top of Luce's dad's cow shed, singing Up on the Roof and putting the world to rights. Lots of gossip, lots of laughs, when L&L are back together life is good :)




PS: ooh look, new exif data...