I'm guessing it's the lack of a wedding invitation (which is no big deal, as it's the daughter's wedding, not the mother's) coupled with the distance this woman perceives from her friend that is really what's upsetting her. The second issue seems more relevant than the first.

About a year and a half ago, I had a good friend (she was in my bridal party, in fact) who suddenly stopped returning my phonecalls. When I called her on her birthday -- I always would call and sing "Happy Birthday," lounge-lizard style -- we talked for an hour or more and I asked her if everything was okay, etc. as she hadn't been returning my phonecalls, and she said everything was fine. She said she didn't get any of the messages I'd left on her answering machine and that she and her husband "thought maybe there was a problem with the machine... I guess there is."

Now this is not a couple that would have let a suspected faulty answering machine linger in the house for very long, as he was looking for a new job and they both have elderly parents in frail health. But, since I'd pressed her about there being anything wrong, and she said there was not, and she was usually very forthcoming, I let this somewhat implausible explanation slide.

My birthday came the following month and she completely ignored it, even though we had always called/sent each other cards/gone out for a joint "birthday dinner" every year, since the early 90s. I got not so much as an email. I sent them a Christmas card -- again, nothing in return.

I emailed her last May to wish her husband a happy birthday, from my husband and me, thinking it might be an opening for some sort of reconnection, but she never responded.

The point of this somewhat long story (sorry!) is that some people will not tell you what's wrong even if you press them. It could well be that the LW's friend is so busy planning her daughter's wedding that she's giving everybody the short shrift, and everything will return to normal when the big event has come and gone. But if that's not the case, and this person no longer feels close to the LW, the LW may have to reconcile herself to never really knowing what happened.

The one thing I've taken away from this experience is that I'll never leave a friend hanging like that.

P.S. to the LW: Let me add to the consensus of those who say No, you shouldn't ask if you were invited. It's rude and beneath your dignity.

P.P.S. to the LW: I hope everything works out with your friend. Because it hurts when it doesn't.

First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with Elizabeth; my mom is currently battling the same disease, and it sometimes seems relentless. I hope she stays as strong as she seems to be.

On another topic, the mainstream media and the blogs spent the whole morning feverishly speculating and quoting one another about what Edwards would do, and they were all wrong, predicting that Edwards would suspend or end the campaign. Is there a reason they couldn't have simply waited to hear what the Edwardses said at their press conference, instead of playing some pointless game of telephone and completely blowing the story? Once again, the scrambling to be first with something -- anything, even something half-baked and ultimately wrong -- trumped the need for accuracy.