The envelope arrived the other day, a small yellow square with my full name and address pre-printed in computer type with an anonymous return address in the western suburbs, an address I did not recognize.
Since this looked very much like one of those junk mail pieces that's disguised as a personal letter, I almost threw it away.
Almost.
Imagine my surprise when I opened it and found an invitation to a bridal shower. The guest of honor is a woman with whom I've had no contact for about two years despite the fact that she lives two miles from me. The shower is being given by women I've never met.
The bride and I worked together for a total of one year and that was almost nine years ago. We were friends after that, hitting bars and parties. But that was years ago and our relationship has dwindled to the point that our only contact is the Christmas newsletter that she sends me every year.
(I have a thing about single people sending out newsletters, but that's a post for another time.)
A few months ago, I received a save-the-date card for her wedding. Geez! You can tell she used to be an event planner. I was pretty surprised at that, but it seems like weddings have (for some people, at least) become a reunion of sorts -- a chance to catch up with distant cousins, former coworkers, grammar school classmates and such.
While weddings have become a mob scene, I've always thought the bridal shower was limited to the inner posse, immediate family and closest friends.
I contacted a friend of mine whom I met when we both worked with the bride. Apparently, she received the save-the-date card, too, although she lives out of state. She's trying to plan a trip to Chicago to coincide with the wedding, so I guess they've kept in touch.
Why was I invited? It couldn't be a situation where the bride is trying to collect gifts from everyone she's ever met. Mommy and Daddy are doctors and they've taken the bride and her brother on wonderful family holidays all over the world.
Nope, it's not about money.
Maybe I'm underestimating the importance of our friendship?
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2 comments:
I cut all ties shortly after college graduation with one of my very best childhood friends. She was competitive, nasty, mean and spiteful. After years of her BS, at 22, I decided that I didn't have to take any more of her crap.
We didn't have any contact for five years. And one day my mother called me and said that we had both received invitations to this woman's bridal shower & wedding. I was shocked, to say the least. Frankly, I thought it was completely rude and in very bad taste since we were no longer friends. I spoke with another friend who knew her as well and she thought the only thing to do was to be just as rude.
I never RSVP'd to either the shower or the wedding.
HA!
I think it's rude, too. Even an invitation to the wedding is one thing, but a bridal shower invite is ridiculous.
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