Imaginary Friends

"Did you have an imaginary friend when you were young?"

As I mentioned a few months ago, I have had a fairly serious heart condition since the day I was born. It’s been operated on a few times, and – aside from those times – it hasn’t really caused me any major health problems.

However it has ensured that I have taken a more….. mental approach to life. Mental might not be the word I want, because it does have a few connotations attached to it, but I mean that generally I didn’t go on the physical side (sports and so forth) but went with the mental side (books and learning and board games and TV and so forth).

So while I can’t really remember if I actually invented any friends of my own, I grew up in books and so – from a certain point of view – I had a shed load of imaginary friends.

From Bilbo and his quest to the mountain (before it got hijacked by Hollywood and turned in to an abomination before god) to the denizens of The Faraway Tree. From Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy to Lynda Day and Spike Thompson.

And if I am entirely honest, I never really grew out of that phase. I read a lot – not necessarily the books I used to read as a kid (although The Chronicles and The Hobbit are still as good as ever), and I write a fair amount as well. (Although, having given that some thought, the writing thing might just be that I am a complete megalomaniac and just want EVERYONE TO BOW TO MY WILL! MWAHAHAHAHAHA *cough*cough* is this thing on?)

So – to answer the original question – yes, I had a ton of imaginary friends, and I never really grew out of them.