Worth the Numb Butt

This is another blog about a special friendship ... although it has none of the loss or grief that was present in my last post.

Our daughter, the Cavegirl, is away at the moment, visiting her best friend in Townsville. Her friend used to live in our area, which is when they became friends, but her family moved away a few years ago. For anyone who isn't aware, Townsville is in Far North Queensland, a good 12 hour drive away from where we live - or an expensive flight (which is why the two girls haven't actually seen each other for over two years!).

It was organised in a bit of a hurry last week, when someone I know in the other girl's family rang to say they were heading up there for a few days and would our girl like to go along? I knew she'd be thrilled with the idea and said yes for her, since she was out with friends at the time.

We agreed the Cavegirl would have to be told a few days before the trip, so she could pack, but everyone else would keep it a secret so that her friend wouldn't have any idea she was coming.

In the end, it was last Saturday morning and our darling Cavegirl was in a typical teenager-ish grumpy mood. Deciding it was time to cheer up our cranky miss, Hubby and I took her outside and he aimed his phone at her with the Record function on, while I told her the options for the last weekend of the school holidays - she could choose from Ten Pin bowling, one of the Sunshine Coast theme parks, or a trip to Townsville to see her friend.

She was stunned. Initially she didn't know whether to believe me, but once she realised it was a genuine offer she burst into tears and gave us hugs, which made for a lovely, moving recording. We emailed it to her friend's mum, who told me it made her cry.

The next task was for the Cavegirl to keep the news to herself, so that her friend would be surprised when she got there ... a much harder task, when our girl was so excited herself! She loved the idea though and spent the next couple of days packing and doing her best to avoid social media (she didn't trust herself not to spill the news!).

She was picked up from here on Wednesday morning at about 7 am and spent the entire day in the car, with just a couple of stops along the way. She kept me updated with texts occasionally:

12 noon - 'good trip so far, non stop laughter and entertainment.'
1.30 pm - 'Just reached Rocky and this is seriously getting boring.'
5.20 pm - 'I can't feel my butt ... it's like it doesn't exist ...'
and then, at last:
11 pm - 'I am with my best friend!!! :-)'

They recorded the meeting for us ... my girl walking around the corner and completely surprising her friend, who genuinely had no idea she would be coming too. It was absolutely brilliant, both girls crying and hugging and yes, I cried when I watched it.

So, after spending four full days in Townsville, she will be arriving home tonight. From all reports, the girls have had a fantastic time together - I'm sure it would have been an emotional goodbye this morning. No doubt we'll have LOTS of photos to look through when she gets home, but I'll just be glad to have my girl home again ... even if she's tired and grumpy after the long trip back :-)