Groomsman
I have talked about my brothers, Ryan, Luke, and Josh, and childhood neighbors, August, Arden, Aspen, and Arlo (Kid) Anderson, who have become my "sisters." However, I have not talked about my other neighbor, who I think of as a sibling. Let's call him Greg.
The Anderson's are my neighbors to the right, while Greg was my neighbor to the left. I first met Greg at our yearly summer block party on our street in first grade. It wouldn't be until a few days later that I would figure out that he lived directly next door to me and not elsewhere on the street. We were friends during our grade school years, but I think it's safe to say we didn't hit our stride until our middle school years. Throughout our friendship, Greg introduced me to Star Wars, The Marvel Cinematic Universe (for those unaware, those are the Avengers movies), Lord of the Rings, Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda…basically he unlocked my inner nerd!
When Greg graduated high school, he was accepted to Cornell University in New York, and while he was there, he met a girl. I have met his then-girlfriend a couple of times. She made an excellent impression because she's an incredible person. Still, on top of that, I can tell that he is incredibly happy! I have known for a while that they were thinking about getting engaged, but it took some time.
Back in September 2020, my friend Marshall and I were at my house. He was studying, and I was writing. I had a bad case of writer's block, so I whipped my phone out and started scrolling through Facebook. It didn't take me long to find the post that officially announced that Greg was engaged! I waited for Marshall to go home, and then I called Greg to congratulate him. We talked for about 15 minutes, and I asked him what he was coming back into town. He said he was coming back on the 14th of December to visit his dad for Christmas.
On Thanksgiving, I texted Greg to wish him a happy holiday and ask him if things were still on for the 14th. He told me things were still on for the 14th, but he was also coming into town that the following week for a few days. He also told me that he had something to ask me. I knew his question probably had something to do with the wedding. Still, I was annoyed that I had to wait the entire weekend before I got confirmation.
The following Monday, Greg decided to pick me up and not have me drive anywhere to meet him because it was snowy and I hadn't driven in the snow yet. When he picked me up, we landed on going to Panera. We got inside, ordered our food, and sat down. We talked and caught up for about an hour before he asked, "So, do you want to be a groomsman in my wedding?"
"Uh, Yeah!!!" I responded excitedly.
I'm so excited about this wedding for a couple of reasons. Number one, this is the first wedding of one of my friends and the first wedding I'm going to be in (outside of when I was little)! Second of all, I don't expect 2021 to bring its "A-game"; I just want some positive trends. A wedding is a pretty positive thing, don't you think?
Have a Greattastic Day and Be Safe!
J. Mitchie Ulibarri
No comments:
Post a Comment