Tomorrow La famille Beaufoix will be attending a very special occasion, the wedding of one of my bezzie mates in the world ever.

I first met Lu when I was 17. Every Thursday a group of us from Sixth Form headed to Rock City for Student night and Lu would join us there as she was a friend of a friend (who we later lost touch with). In our Doc Martens and opaque tights and tiny skirts we would pogo away the night to the Wonderstuff, Chilli Peppers, Neds, Lemonheads, Pearl Jam and so many more. We just went for the music and the buzz of being with great mates and it was always brilliant.

My first memory is of a Lucy with short choppy hair, a fitted white dress and a big smile. She would talk to anyone and didn’t care what people thought. If cheesy blokes were annoying us she’d pull silly faces at them which usually made them laugh or just leave us alone. A few times we got into some iffy situations but usually her and Nats talked us out of it, like the time at the bus station when we were getting hassled by a bloke on crutches and Nats told him he didn’t have a leg to stand on, snigger.

(This was us lst Christmas. I’m happy to say I’m a few pounds lighter now and my face is less, er, shiny.)

We had so many brilliant nights out where we did daft stuff that we probably couldn’t get away with now… like climbing in and out of pub windows on a regular basis or pretending we were posh business types – was Nats a lawyer or a dentist? I can’t remember – in the pub opposite Harvey’s. Talking of Harvey’s, I also remember boogieing with some very drunken Mansfield townies and Lucy puking over the side of the weird wooden banister thing around the dance floor. I can still recall the feel of her hair in my hands, hee hee.

Then there was Stockwells, our favourite pub, where we spent hours putting our songs on the Duke Box, drinking pints, playing pool and talking and laughing till last orders. The Cookie Club, Pieces, nipping into The Stage Door, The Bell or Langtries before Rock City then giggling in the kebab shop afterwards?

And I seem to remember sitting outside Brunels on a hot summer night and discussing the qualities of a certain young long haired bloke who was a mate of her brother,Tim, and who Lu thought was a bit of alright. Thank God we all agreed, or we’d have been dissin’ her future husband and it would all be a bit awkward tomorrow.

Then there was that night at Rock City, with the kiss. I think we all cheered we were so excited.

Sighhhhhhh. The lovely Podder.

Hmmm, I must remember to tell Misses E and M before the wedding that Podder is ‘Jonathan’ or you might hear a small voice saying, “Who is dat Jonathan Mummy? Where is Podder?”

Lucy has been such a big part of my life, but here are some of the main things that make me so glad she’s one of my best mates.

Cough, cough, clearing throat…

I love the fact Lu is herself in every situation. She can say what she thinks and it’s ok because you know she’ll have really thought about it and it will come from the heart.

I love her wicked dress sense, her sense of humour and the fact she will be there for you whatever and seems to be able to put herself in your shoes and really understand what you’re feeling.

I love the way Lu makes people feel about themselves. When I’m with Lu I’m more confident and I’m probably a lot more honest than I am with most people and I feel good.

I love the way she isn’t afraid to be daft with my kids.

I love the way she pulls faces on photos.

And I love that she picked such a sweet and funny man and that he is my friend too and that hopefully we will all grow old and wrinkly together wherever we are in the world.

Here’s to a brilliant day tomorrow Miss Lucy, and here’s to great mates all over the world. You know who you are.