Allison asked us to bring a funny or touching story about Tiffany. I tried immediately, of course, to think of an embarrassing story about Tiffany, this being a modern bridal shower, but all of the stories I could think of had me doing something embarrassing and Tiffany either getting me out of it or sympathizing or lightly scolding me. So I decided to avoid those stories.

Then I remembered one time I visited Tiffany in Monterey. I'm not actually sure when this was--I think this was when she was at Hopkins getting her master's degree. I stayed with Tiffany and her roommate, a guy whose name I don't remember but Tiffany told me she had a crush on. 

(That's not the embarrassing part.) 

The night I was there we decided to get drunk and (here it is) Tiffany and her roommate got all silly about how alcohol made their faces get flushed. I seem to remember spending an inordinate amount of time looking into a mirror to watch the degree of redness spread over Tiffany's face, and her giggling about this. This was one of the great untapped sources of hilarity in the universe.

This is just not the kind of behavior I usually think of when I think of Tiffany. It's also the most embarrassing thing I can think of about her, which isn't bad as far as THAT goes.

That particular evening ended with Tiffany, her roommate, and me walking through the streets of Monterey, perhaps to work off the alcohol. We might also have been in search of ice cream--I'm not really sure. Anyhow, we ran into a pack of teenagers in leather who were out partying and wanted to know how we were doing and did we want to share their jug? Tiffany politely declined for the three of us, saying we had had enough, thanks, but hey, have a good time.

Another time I visited Tiffany in Monterey, we met to go diving together. We did one dive off of a pier whose name she will remember but I don't -- I'm usually much better than this with names, really -- and then called it a day. 

The next morning, when I woke up, she asked, "Do you want to go diving today?" I wondered what I had done to signal that perhaps I wasn't thrilled with the prospect of squeezing into my cold-water suit a second day in row. 

Then I realized that maybe *Tiffany* didn't want to go diving, so I said, "You want to bag on diving today?" She said, "Yeah, let's go get breakfast." Sounded good to me.

This is the kind of story that sums up our relationship: we can do stuff together, or we can just hang out and talk, and the great thing is, there's nothing we can't talk about. Which is pretty much the best kind of friend to have.