Weddings! and fabulous memories of my traveling friend.

Rebecca called me last night. You know Rebecca? The "becca" who is so faithful in checking this site, even if it's not been updated in over 3 months? The girl who is such a great friend that she comments on practically each and every blog, just so that I know she's still reading? That's the one.

Anyway, Rebecca called. Being the self-absorbed person that I am, I naturally assumed that she was curious about how the hair turned out. After our initial hellos, I launched into a 20-minute, detailed story about Tommy, his initial hesitations, his eventual agreement that the color thing was the right way to go, the outcome, etc. She didn't burst my bubble. She listened, laughed, agreed, and pretty much paid attention to me for the entire extent of the one-sided conversation.

When I finished, there was a brief silence. Then ...

"Well, the real reason I called was to tell you that I'm engaged!"

My hair, of course, was quickly forgotten.

Rebecca is the third of my three closest graduate school friends to announce in the last few months that they, too, are getting married. Meredith, who you all know about from previous posts, is one. She's getting married in February in Jackson, and I get to be an attendant. Totally excited about what is sure to be the party of the year. Bryan is another; he and I hit it off while attending the same small group Bible study in Athens for several years. The third is Rebecca. Good ol' Rebecca.

Rebecca and I first met at RUF in our senior year at UGA. Although I knew who she was then, we didn't really become close until, 2 years (and a whole lot of future-career-confusion on both sides) later, we started graduate school in the English department together. I knew no one else there, and we sort of clung to each other a bit until we got our bearings. She, Gina, and I quickly became study partners and moral supporters; I remember one day in particular that involved sitting at Jittery Joe's while we all three told each other over and over again how smart the other was. We were trying to get up the motivation to start our Master's theses. We all succeeded, and I'm convinced it's because of the confidence that we gave each other. Strength in numbers and all.

Rebecca understands my desire to be edgy and bohemian. She and I always complained that we would never get to that place where we were successful in our attempts to throw off mainstream; she, however, made it. How jealous I am!

My favorite memories of Rebecca, though, are from our trip to London back in March of 2003. I got an email from her one night saying that she and Gina had found really cheap flights for spring break, and didn't I want to go? I, of course, did, and a week later we were staying in a stinky, bright yellow room on the top floor of a rickety old hostel, living out of our backpacks and having a grand old time. Both of the others had lived in England for study abroad programs, and they showed me around like pros. It was fantastic.

Fantastic, that is, until that Wednesday, when America (with the UK as allies) started bombing Iraq. Suddenly our lighthearted, spring break trip to London turned into a made-for-tv drama. "How will three blond-headed American girls survive in war-torn Europe?" Tune in tomorrow afternoon, only on Lifetime: Television for Women.

We avoided subways for fear of terrorists releasing deadly chemicals. We took pictures of protests and riots in Westminster Square, Oxford, and Bath. We were handed fliers by members of London's Iraqi community. We fielded frantic questions from our parents during calls home. It was thrilling, really!

Then ... the climax. Rebecca's purse got stolen the day before we left. Stolen, and in it were our plane tickets, her driver's license, and her passport. The airport couldn't help: "We can't let anyone out of this country without a passport, ma'am. And our flights are booked through April."

It was the weekend (a Friday night), and the embassy wasn't open until Monday. We called and talked to the emergency contact there. We begged. We cried. Nothing. They weren't opening for three, silly little students.

In an act that might've traumatized Gina for all time, we sent her home on our original flight. The airlines told us that, with the flights booked as solidly they were, we'd have a much better chance of getting on a later flight (after a passport renewal) if there were only two passengers. Forever ingrained in my visual memory is Gina, sobbing and throwing her unused British money at us, then sadly riding the elevator up to the terminal with no luggage, just her book. She told us later that she got stopped at every security checkpoint because the guards were so suspicious of an international traveler with no bags.

In the two extra days that Rebecca and I had in London, we read Harry Potter and Bridget Jones in Hyde Park, ate free slices of cake from the Italian owners of a restaurant called Lo Spuntino (they felt sorry for us), and ogled a really cute British businessman at the American Embassy (sorry, Cal).

After I vouched for Rebecca's American citizenship and she got her passport, we headed to the airport for what we assumed would be a long wait for a spot on a flight back to America. Instead, we were allowed on the next flight out (a Muslim flight out, actually, but that's another story) to Toronto, where we spent the night in the food court and flew to Atlanta the next day. Gina was waiting there to drive us home to Athens. An all-American hamburger from The Grill never tasted so good ...

Nearly 5 years later, and I still count Rebecca as one of my closest friends. We live hours apart (she in Chapel Hill after a stint in Asheville, me here in Macon) and never see each other, but all it takes to reconnect is a one or two-word email and we're back to laughing at all of our old adventures. She is one of the select few who made my days as a singleton as wonderfully satisfying and fun-filled as they were.

And now we'll both be married. Me first, her following soon after. Congratulations, Rebecca ... and may our friendship be as exciting in this new phase of our lives as it was before!