Nicola was the best friend of my early childhood. A beautiful gentle soul who was gorgeous with her mane of long auburn hair, (freckles she disliked) her quiet words, super polite nature and being delightfully shy. So many hours of time spent together forged what good friendship, and a best friend, means to me even now. I was welcomed into the Johnston home with open arms which I loved, and even after the big move to Havelock North they put up with me flying in for school holidays. We lost touch after high school as we moved on with our own journeys (in the days before the internet and you needed to know what city someone was living in to use the right phone book!), but reconnected once when she settled in Hamilton. We lost touch again as my growing family became my priority. My memories of Nicola are so intertwined with childhood that she is ever a part of me, and so very precious. Rest easy now my beautiful friend, you will be always remembered with love.