I have been sewing since I was 8 (I'm 58 now) and have always loved sewing. I had a traumatic brain injury 9 years ago but have always retained my sewing part of my brain, it wasn't even touched.
I used that machine at times when I felt like I couldn't do anything else.
Since the car accident, I have an inability to make choices, not so much now as in the beginning of my recovery. Joann's used to be a wonderful place to get my creative juices flowing, after the accident, it was torture. It's so much better now and I do credit my sewing machine for that. Using it helped me to realize choices are opportunities, not torture, it's okay to make wrong choices in sewing!
So, I think my machine is a bit more than a friend, but I don't know the word that would describe our rerlationship.