I took Eva and her BFF, Jill, to see Justin Bieber in concert last Saturday night in Oakland. Jill’s mom Susie came too. For those of you not up to speed, we used to live two doors down from Jill and Susie before I married Paul and we moved way across town, a whopping five minutes away. But when you are  little and used to scurrying over to each other’s house in your pajamas, it may as well have been five hours away. (If the truth be told, Susie and I were traumatized as well because we too missed the convenience of living so close. I was always hitting her up for some wine and she often came over to my house, coffee cup in hand, looking for some cream. One morning Susie actually brought down a piece of bread, smeared some mayonnaise on it, and walked back to her house. Those were the days.)

It was a heart break for both Eva and Jill to not live so close to each other. Eva does not remember a time when they were not friends. They met when they were three. I have photos of them dressed in their Madeline costumes selling lemonade in the front yard.  It is amazing how close these two girls are and probably always will be. Their friendship has survived not only our move, but the test of middle school. Now they are both 14, starting high school in the fall and IN LOVE with Justin Bieber. Susie and I gave the girls the tickets as a gift for their 8th grade graduation. We took them out to dinner first and while they went into the concert to watch the opening acts we waited in line to buy T-shirts. I enjoyed spoiling my daughter this way. I used to worry that she was the neglected middle child … but not anymore. As we were leaving the concert, (after 3 1/2 hours of shrieking and squealing) Eva put her arms around me, squeezed me hard and proclaimed, “This was the greatest night of my life. Thanks, Mom.” I swooned with Mommy glee.