Rapturous reunion

I had a lovely visit today from my close friend Debs and her two daughters, Grace and Lily. Debs used to be Head of Drama at the school at which I teach, and she and I worked together on West Side Story - she directing and me conducting - before she moved with her family to Yorkshire. It was a partnership I so much enjoyed and working with others has never quite been as special as it was with Debs. She is deliciously mad and we have almost exactly the same sense of humour (and a shared obsession with Cranford and teapigs), so the working relationship extended to a wonderful friendship and I still miss her a great deal. She and the girls came today to meet Joshy and it was lovely to spend time with them, drinking tea and laughing hysterically at all sorts of things, particularly the recent realisation that her hen is in fact a cockerel! I love the tenderness in her face as she looks at Joshua, and Lily's lovely smile.