Rebecca
Known Since: 2003
Resides In: San Diego, CA
I'd switched over to the Auto Damage department at GEICO, and had been there for a few months. I'd seen this Rebecca girl around, but we'd never actually spoken. I was in Total Loss, she was in Salvage, and we just never had much reason to interact. But then word got out that I was planning a trip to Ireland, and, as it turns out, Rebecca is a freak for Ireland (not unlike myself). So she came over one day and asked about the trip. And sometimes friendships can start with something just as simple as that.
Becoming friends with Rebecca came very easily. The more we talked, the more I found we had in common. Both loved film, and the same types of film. We shared similar taste in music. And I knew this was going to be a solid friendship when, out of nowhere, she whipped out the "WKRP" reference, which just happens to be one of my favorite shows ever, and also talked about "Bosom Buddies", which IS my favorite sitcom ever. Aside from interests, I found we had very similar personalities. She has an art for dry sarcasm that I just totally click with, a fairly mischievous sense of humor, and a strong spiritual side. And we're both low-talkers, which is a nice change for me, because it's so much better when BOTH parties are having to ask the other to repeat something (I'm used to the one-way sitch). We're both quiet people in general, yet both with a lot to say for people who take the time to listen.
Rebecca is that rare combination of optimist and realist, and has a passion for travel (in that she's dying to try some...she has her passport ready to go!), U2, and all things Irish. It was our Irish connection that prompted her to give me an Irish Worry Stone, one of my favorite gifts I've ever gotten (and the thing has gotten rubbed a lot at my desk, believe me. And it works!). Family and friends are very important in her life, and she spends much time with both. She has an infectious smile, big dreams, and knows what she wants out of life. And I have no doubt that she'll get it.
As if this writing, I'm getting ready to leave GEICO and San Diego, and I'm finding one of the things I'm going to miss most is our day-to-day hanging. The visit to each other's desks that always go on too long and get us in trouble with our supervisors, the e-mails back and forth that should be for company business only (shhh!)...and just sharing what's going on with our lives. Thankfully, she has family in Northern Cal, so maybe we'll still get a chance to see each other once in a while (and enjoy the--ahem--charms of Sacramento). With that, and with the handy help of E-mail, it's my hope that this is one of those friendships that distance doesn't diminish. Because if you'd meet her you'd know, a friendship with Rebecca is something worth holding onto.
Random Me and Rebecca Memory: Irish New Year's! On New Year's Eve day, we hung out at her desk watching an online countdown to midnight in Dublin. Okay, so it was a quiet celebration, since we were trying not to get busted for slacking on company time, but we enjoyed it.
