"I'm calling in a favor," her email said. "We're thinking about wedding songs...do you have any cool ideas for that?" she pleaded.
Laura, who once lived next door to me, hung out with me and my two roommates during the three years we were neighbors. We all lived on the first floor of a two-flat in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood that we lovingly referred to as "Club 1228" (the address was 1228). The building itself was a conversation piece as giant cement gargoyles that wore Cubs baseball caps adorned the top of our building. People were always stopping in front of our apartment to take pictures (long before the term "selfie" existed). Upstairs from our apartment, lived our landlord lived as well as a shady fellow named "Snow Ball" who wore an ankle bracelet after serving time for a white-collar crime. We never asked why he had that nickname out of fear for the answer. That aside, those handful of years contained some of my favorite memories from the carefree days of my mid-twenties.
Even though we rarely saw her date anyone during our years as neighbors, Laura was a catch. She was an attractive and tall blonde who taught Spanish and had a heart of gold. She always wore a smile, had an infectious laugh and never seemed to have a bad day. I knew she'd eventually meet someone who'd sweep her off her feet.
Enter Match.com and a man named Brian. The two connected on Match during a time when online dating was still considered taboo ("We met on Match," Laura once whispered to me when I finally met her fiance.). Online dating was still in its infancy stage and hadn't become socially acceptable as it is today. After months of dating, Brian proposed and the two started planning for their big wedding day.
Selecting a song for the first and father-daughter dance wasn't easy, so I happily provided Laura with a list of non-cliche songs that included "If I Ain't Got You" from Alicia Keys, "Come Away With Me" from Norah Jones, "Forever My Friend" from Ray LaMontagne, and "Someone Like You" from Van Morrison--a 1987 ballad destined for wedding receptions all across the globe.
The following summer, Laura's wedding day finally arrived. Her venue was a charming old barn in the middle of nowhere in Southwest Michigan that had been converted into an event space. In fact, I would return to this barn five years later when my other friends, Jeff and Kristi, married.
After arriving in the nearby town where the hotel sat, my girlfriend and I found a diner and grabbed lunch. Just as we finished eating, a wave of panic hit me. In a hurry to leave on time, I stupidly left my suit hanging on my bedroom door...nearly 3 hours away! How could I forget my clothes for a wedding?!? I quickly paid for our meal and then scurried off to the nearest JC Penney in a nearby shopping mall. With approximately two hours to shop, return to the hotel, get dressed, and then board the shuttle to the wedding venue, there was absolutely no time to spare. After trying on dozens of dress pants that didn't quite fit, I settled on a pair that were about a half-inch too short. I begrudgingly bought the floods, found a shirt and tie, and then headed back to the hotel. After getting ready, we came downstairs to more bad news: we missed the wedding shuttle. After asking the hotel clerk if there were any cabs in town, she chuckled and said, "No" but phoned a chauffeur knew. Feeling like a complete loser who forgot his clothes, missed the shuttle and now stood wearing pants that didn't quite fit, this night had to get better, right? Moments later, I locked eyes with a guy standing in the hotel lobby who looked vaguely familiar.
"Dave?" I asked.
"Todd?" he curiously shot back. "What are you doing here?"
After explaining to him how my suit was hanging comfortably in my Chicago condo and how we hurriedly shopped for clothes and, in turn, missed the shuttle, he and his date laughed.
"Do you need a ride?" he said.
"YEAH!" I told him in a tone much like Laura's subject line of "HELP".
The four of us jumped into Dave's car and made it in time for Laura's big day. (I did, by the way, gave the hotel clerk $20 to give to the chauffeur we never ended up using.)
During dinner, the folks at our table thoroughly enjoyed hearing about my misadventures of the day and kindly complimented my JC Penney outfit. Soon thereafter, Laura and Brian entered the dance floor for their long-awaited first dance. As their wedding DJ fired up "Someone Like Me" from Van Morrison, I gasped. "They're using MY song!" I told everyone at my table (who clearly thought I was nuts). After all the day's drama, seeing the two of them dance made everything right with the world. Today, Laura and Brian have two adorable children, and my JC Penney slacks still don't fit.