About Rachel.

Tomorrow is my last acting class (thank God - it's been fun but it's just not for me) and we are having a cocktail party with various characters we portrayed last week. One of the characters I played last week was a young woman who was napping when her date knocked on her door to take her to a show. I guess she was a bit neurotic, and always late for everything, and very apologetic but all with a high level of energy. Kind of like Rachel from Friends, so that's what I named her when I was assigned that character for this week's class. I'm going to make her socially awkward too - since I play that in real life it should be an easy transition.

We have to be prepared to talk about memories of this character from ages 5, 9, 13 and 21, and one of those memories has to be something embarrassing, and another something romantic. We also have to have a quote that inspires this character. Since I put this off for a full week and have no interest in doing this now, I figured a blog post about "Rachel" might make this whole process a little easier. After all, I'm a writer, not an actor. So...

When Rachel was 5 years old, she was playing with her older brother and his friends the next street over from their house. Her older brother had the bright idea of making his friend kiss her on the nose. This idea appalled Rachel, and she screamed and threw a fit, which caused the other boys to grab her tightly, push her toward this friend (who was just as appalled) and execute this horrid activity. After it was over, she walked home the long way, crying her eyes out, and it took several months before she would play with that group of kids again. She was already a shy kid - having just gotten over crying when strangers talked to her at the grocery store - and this exacerbated the situation immensely. She recently reconnected with the boy (thanks, Facebook!) and they shared a good laugh - apparently, it was as embarrassing to him as it was to her.

[OK, in this memory, I am Rachel and all of this actually happened.]

When Rachel was 9 years old, her grandmother died. This was her last living grandparent, and her mother and grandmother were incredibly close. Seeing her mother, the strong vibrant woman she knew and loved, instantly so distraught was confusing and upsetting to Rachel. Seeing her mother bounce back and be the strong vibrant woman she knew and loved through the viewing, funeral, and subsequent parental house cleanse and sale was inspiring to Rachel. This experience affected her deeply and was the turning point from her being socially withdrawn to being more outgoing as well as the rock her friends could count on in times of need.

[Only sort of me. Grandma did pass away around this age, and it sort of had this effect on my mother.]

When Rachel was 13, she got braces. She only had to wear them for a year, and they hurt her mouth like hell the entire year, but that was neither the worse nor the worst of it. The worse of it was one day at school, after eating a slice of oh-so-healthy cafeteria pizza, when someone pointed out that her lunch was stuck in her braces. To this day, all food must be cut up into bite-sized portions lest something get stuck in her teeth. The worst of it was her older brother, now at the awful teenage taunting age, walking around the house saying "not with this brace face and gross hair!" every single second of every single day. Well, at least it felt like it was every single day.

[I was 12. But, same difference. I tried to find the milk commercial on this site but quickly lost patience. Brother was also fond of saying "pretty sneaky, sis" which I repeat ad nauseum to this day though... So there's that.]

When Rachel was 21, her boyfriend Josh proposed. They had been dating for three years, and in the third year had discussed marriage off and on but neither had ever committed any solid interest in it. One night they stayed in to watch TV instead of seeing a band (their usual outing) and while flipping through the channels, Rachel ran across When Harry Met Sally. They were both suckers for this movie, and watched the whole thing reciting lines word for word. At the end, after Harry runs to get to the NYE party to tell Sally he loves her, Josh said (still staring at the TV) "I think we should get married." Rachel turned to look at him, and he looked at her, and then she kissed him at the exact moment Harry and Sally kissed. "So, this means yes?" Josh asked afterward. "Yes," she replied.

They planned a prolonged engagement due to student loan debt and being so young (Rachel wisely wanted to be sure they would still feel the same in a year, in two years, after living with each other.) Instead of a ring, Rachel wanted a better TV for movie nights. So they started saving. A month later, Josh was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism and thoracic outlet syndrome. During his hospital stay, Rachel arranged for the hospital clergyman to wed them in a private ceremony. Josh died the following week of a blood clot.

Rachel dated sporadically in the years following Josh's death, but never truly committed to anyone or anything - people, jobs, places. Josh's death made her realize that life was short, and making the most of it was her job on this planet. Work was just a way to support her exploring habit.

[Other than work supporting exploring... I AM SO NOT A ROMANTIC. Jesus. Oh and also, I watch too much House. And too much E! - today I learned that one of the Mmmm-Bop brothers had pulmonary embolism and almost died.]

Rachel's quote: "Dashboard melted but we still have the radio" - Modest Mouse... Music drives and inspires her, and she is able to find five things that don't suck about every day that sucks overall.

[Totally me.]