It’s amazing how two people can meet and instantly know thats the person you want in your life forever. L O V E, that intense feeling of deep affection you have for someone.  L O V E, a person or thing that one loves. L O V E, a deep romantic feeling or sexual attachment to someone. Those are the three ways google describes the word.  I’m sure each of you have your own definition and experience with the four letter word.  Nonetheless, whether it be the love you have for your best friend, that high school crush, those new heels, or even your husband; theres one thing that is constant about the word and that’s unconditional.

I still remember the first time we met.  Fourteen years ago in Florence S.C. in my freshman dorm room.  He was standing by the door snickering like he had saw something funny.  I met a few guys from Greenville S.C. who I became really close with and they were dying for me to meet their friend from back home.  When I saw him I thought to myself, “Why would they bring him here.”  He came off as rude and obnoxious and I just wasn’t feeling him.  As weeks went by, I remembered seeing him every where I went.  On or off campus (the town was small) he was always there.  When I would be hanging with my other homeboys, he was always the loudest one in the group, telling the most jokes.  I observed how he kept the attention of those around him and seemed to make EVERYONE who was in his presence laugh.  I thought to myself after being around him, “Wow, he’s just like me.”  Fast forward to over a decade later; that rude and obnoxious guy who was standing in my doorway snickering in college would be at every important moment of my adult life. The break ups, those late college nights when I had no one to talk to, those “I don’t know whats wrong with me” moments, the long rides back home, the hospital visits, the pregnancy, the birthdays, the holidays, the in betweens, the “I can’t be by myselves moments, but most importantly, those “We would always need each other moments.”

They will come so many times in a lifetime, but each time he just so happened to be there.  In the midst of planning his wedding, he would drive from another state to be there for my daughter (his God daughter) when she was in an induced coma. A man of very few friends, a big family, with a heart even bigger for the ones he L O V E. You see, I’ve been so blessed to have met him.  God just seems to know who to put in your life.  The beautiful part of this whole story is the L O V E always seems to comes in an “obnoxious” way. A way that always remained constant like the word. We don’t get to many like “HIM”.  To call him a friend would be an understatement. He offers something thats so limitless and surpasses the word friend twice. I’m so thankful for him and thank him for showing me what the word unconditional means.

Me and my daughter was blessed enough to be apart of his wedding and we danced all night.  A night that I would always remember, because just like “HIM” they don’t come often.  I want him to know I forgive him for hitting a deer with my car in college and not telling me.  I want him to forgive me for not being there when he was in the hospital. I want him to know that I love him wholeheartedly and today I celebrate him.  Not just because its his birthday, but because his life means so much to me everyday. At his wedding, he kept saying “Love is a beautiful thing” on the mic all night.  He’s so funny, but its true.  It’s the first time I ever saw him cry, and the most I’ve ever seen him smile. L O V E, that affection, that thing, that feeling.  One thats so unconditional and forgiving. One thats there and one that you’ll always need.  L O V E

Blog Images