Here's a story about how air travel can change your life.
In the summer of 1995, which is ten years ago this summer for anyone who's counting, my friend Autumn Fredericks, long may she live and prosper, convinced my parents to let me get on a plane with her and go to Horn Creek, a summer camp in Colorado. I know for a fact that this caused a major schism in the Rice household since I had A) never flown anywhere before B) never been out of the Deep South. But in the end, I went, and I'm pretty sure my mom cried the entire time we were on the plane. In fact, when we arrived safely and were registering, the people in charge of the camp gave me my name tag and said "Oh, you're Haley Rice. Your mom has called here three times wanting to know if you made it yet." (I love you, Mom. And that wasn't at all embarrasing.) Truth be told, I was terrified too. As shocking as it sounds now, when I was 15, I wasn't a big fan of talking to strangers, and I was pretty sure the week was going to involve a lot of people I'd never met.
I turned out to be right.
Accounts differ as to whether or not it all started the first night of camp or the second day of camp, but ten years later, the undisputed facts are that very early into the week, Autumn and I met three girls named Rebecca, Charity and Bryonie, and although we're pretty sure the earth didn't actually move when that happened, it was a very important moment.
Autumn was assigned to stay in Cabin #2 with Charity and Rebecca and Bryonie for the week, and I was assigned to Cabin #7. I liked my cabin group alright, but because Autumn was the only person I really knew, I ended up hanging out with her cabin so much that I was declared an honorary resident of Cabin #2 for that year. And the next year, and the next year, and the next year all through high school.
We all went to college, some of us went overseas, we graduated from college, moved all over the place, four of us have gotten married and one of us is the mother to a beautiful one-year-old baby. But through it all, we've kept in touch. Several years ago we started to notice that, post-camp and post-college, it was getting more and more difficult to see each other aside from the occasional wedding. So we started what is affectionately known as the Horn Creek Cabin #2 Reunion Tour. The Reunion Tour is always on Labor Day weekend, and for the last three years, we have spent those three glorious days in Autumn's parents' lake cabin in Minnesota. None of us lives in Minnesota, but it's the closest thing we've been able to find to a middle point between Albuquerque, Nebraska, Washington D.C. and St Louis. This year, things have gotten even more complicated. Bryonie and her husband moved to England, and soon, Charity and her new husband, Andy, will be living in North Carolina. Change, it seems, is everywhere. But some things don't change.
All the Cabin #2 girls were able to attend Charity and Andy's wedding two weeks ago in Lincoln, Nebraska, and it was just such a fantastic weekend. Here we all are together. From left are Rebecca, Bryonie, Charity, Autumn and me. Trust me when I tell you that this is a much better-looking photo than some of the ones we took as teenagers.

Each time we get together, I realize again how important these ladies have been in my life, and I'm thankful all over again that I know them. The more time passes and the more things change, the more comforting it is to get together with friends who have known me for longer than I've been a newspaper reporter or a New Mexico resident or, for that matter, had my driver's license. Every time I'm with them, I just feel like things are simpler and I can be myself.
So here's to the first ten years of my friendship with these women. Here are a few more photos from the weekend of the wedding.

Rebecca with Livia, she and her husband Jeremy's baby girl:

Bryonie and I grin for the cameras at the reception:

And, finally, the happy couple, Charity and Andy, getting hitched on a beautiful spring morning in Nebraska. This photo is crooked because I was all choked up when I was trying to take it. Joy and love to the new couple.