If I were to make a list of life’s necessities for my kids, my friend, Heather, would be in the top five.  Well, not Heather, exactly – I mean, she takes great care of herself but she won’t be around forever – but someone like her.  Someone in their lives they can call just to say they noticed something weird, or laugh until stomach cramps ensue, a person who gets all the parts  – good, bad, ugly, delightful – and maybe even shows new ones.

When Heather turned 40 a couple of years ago (she’s older! this person need not be your age) her older brother collected stories from her friends to share at a family gathering.  I wrote the one that made everyone cry.  It was either that or the one that made everyone gasp in horror at our bizarre and sometimes profane sense of humor. Heather and I have called each other from miles apart, from her crooked house in Brooklyn and mine in Boston, from hospital rooms filled with joy or sorrow.  We’ve shared fresh goat’s milk and Italian cheese, picked green tomatoes roadside in the midwest, watched each other’s kids, stayed up too late with spouses playing word games, and edited each other’s work for years.  Our kids call each other frousins (not real cousins, not just friends).  She is my first reader and close soul.

In short, if I had to deliver a baby in a field, I’d want her there.

All this AND she is talented with crafts and games.  Got an old shoelace and a paper towel?  She’ll fashion a prom dress or an accordion.  How?  I have no idea.  No use for your packing kernels and partially melted birthday candles?  Heather will show you how to turn them into a child-friendly game that will take care of after-school hours.

Heather’s latest book is PLAY THESE GAMES  – and it’s a must-have for every parent, grandparent, caregiver or frugal enviro person out there as it shows step-by-step how to make games from objects you have around the house.

I suggest you send it to a friend – a good friend.  And then have soup.