When people talk about the type of friendships that last beyond college, never in a lifetime did I think the most prominent example in my life would originate in seventh grade. As the type of person who did not particularly enjoy math class, I goofed around a lot. My loud and obnoxiously positive attitude annoyed a lot of my peers, but a person who it did not affect in the slightest is my best friend, Josh Morrell. Whenever he went off to college, we went our separate routes, however that did not obstruct us from keeping in such tight contact. He invited  me to his house for a little reunion of friends to get together over the weekend and hang out and recollect events. One unfamiliar face struck me as a bit of a red flag, but not in a derogatory way at all. There was a girl much shorter than Josh who I had never seen before, but it was obvious that not only does Josh know this person, but there was some type of mutual feeling between the two. I could just tell with the way they interacted that this relationship was something to look out for because of the potential it held. After the murmur had died down, Josh took me to the side to talk about this girl he had met in his botany course at his university. It finally struck me that this was the girl I had heard so much about, yet had never seen. It was obvious why he had felt affection for her as much as he did; she had incredible foliage, was well nourished, and was blooming with what seemed like dozens of technicolor flowers. He was so confident in that conversation that he was sure that she was the one, and after all these years of knowing Josh, I agreed knew what he was talking about. Whenever we came back inside, she immediately rushed over to him and wrapped her branches around him. For the rest of the night, we had talked all about their flourishing relationship, and that is how I got to know Fern Greenwood. So to the families of both sides, I’m greatly honored to even be at this matrimonial event, so words cannot correctly describe how I feel to be the best man of my best man. I think I speak for each person in the room whenever I say that the future among these two will certainly be evergreen. To watch a relationship from origin to the peak of marriage is something that cannot be expressed simply in words. It’s an emotional ballad of sorts when you’re a part of the audience. It’s not like being in the stands of a football game or in the crowd of a concert, it’s being in a crowd of many people who view this bond, yet you gain a personal connection with the people involved. That ladies and gentlemen, is why we, humans or plants, love love. I’d grant well wishes towards your future if I didn’t already see overwhelming prosperity already, so I guess I should close with this quote from Buddha: “The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. So ask yourself, what seeds will you plant there?” I think we’ve seen the latter in this instance, and it is eternal.