Bridget's mother, Marlene or Marly, committed suicide when Bridget was eleven years old. She had been a debutante from Alabama, and her death had a devastating effect on the family dynamic between Bridget, her twin brother Perry, and their father. As a result, Bridget feels closer to her three friends, Carmen, Lena, and Tibby, than she does to her family. She has known these friends all her life, because their mothers became friends in a prenatal aerobics class.

The traveling pants, which miraculously fit all four girls despite their differing body shapes, are a great comfort to Bridget over a summer when, for the first time, the girls are going to be apart. Tibby is staying home, much to her disgust, while Carmen is going to visit her father for the summer. Lena is headed to Greece to visit her grandparents, and Bridget is off to a soccer camp in Baja. While she is excited about the camp, she is apprehensive about being apart from her friends. I would argue that throwing herself into sports, specifically soccer, became one of Bridget's coping mechanisms in the aftermath of her mother's death.

It is during that summer that Bridget meets Eric, who is to be a lasting love for her and arguably help her mend some of the heartbreak caused by her mother's suicide.