This past weekend I had the pleasure of spending it in beautiful Quebec. Two very dear friends of mine, Ben and Alli, tied the knot this weekend. I’ve known Ben and Alli since my second year of university and they’ve been one of my very best set of friends ever since. It was a big honour for me to be a part of their wedding party and participate in all the events leading up to their big day. I’m extremely proud of these two individuals for coming a long way and providing a true example of what love is, along with a blueprint for it. It didn’t take too long before it became obvious that they were it for each other. I can still remember all the times Ben and I would be watching a game on TV and it always seemed like the phone was synchronized to ring at the same moment each time. It would ring and Ben would motion with his finger “I’ll be right back”. Every single time he would never talk with Alli in front of me. He would always go upstairs to give her his undivided attention and that’s why they work so well together. They’re just always there 110% for each other, and I’m extremely happy for them. Sooooo, when's the baby coming?
How the trip started to Montreal for me was actually hilarious in hindsight. At the time, I was thinking “Mike you idiot”. So I wake up Thursday morning and my outlook reminder pops up “Ben & Alli’s Wedding--> Montreal”. I was like, it’s not this weekend it’s next weekend. I was extremely sure of it for some reason. So I go to work last Thursday thinking I’m gonna have an awesome weekend in one week. I had always planned to drive up with my friend Laura (who also was in the wedding party). So Laura calls me at work at around 2:30 telling me to be at her place for 7:30. So of course I was confused as hell based on my own cognition. I was like “Why the heck do you want to hang out tonight, I’m gonna see you all next weekend”. Needless to say I almost shit myself as I frantically prepared to tie any necessary loose ends at work and mention “Oh by the way I need Friday and Monday off, I’m in a wedding party….in Quebec…and I’m getting fitted tomorrow for my tux”. Lucky for me I work at a really awesome and flexible organization and have a solid team to fall back on. They laughed pretty hard at me and deservedly so. But as Ben so cleverly snuck in during his speech, even though I got the dates mixed up I came through in the end as I always do for my friends!
I’ve never been in a wedding party before, so this was my first time and such a great experience. The groomsman consisted of Alli’s two brothers Jordan and Adam; our friends from UTM, Amir, Graham and myself; and the Rochester boys consisting of Zach, Kyle and Mike. Other guys who were also a big part of the wedding and celebration were Ethan (UTM), Dave (UTM), Mike (Rochester) and Sam (Rochester). With three Mike’s this weekend sometimes it got confusing, which is why we referred to last names often. Let me tell you I had the time of my life with all these guys this weekend. It was great for the UTM crew because we all haven’t hung out in one spot together in a long time. It was great for Ben because he got his boys from Rochester and UTM to unite! Sometimes with large groups like that you might worry about personalities clashing, but this wasn’t the case at all. Ben’s boys from Rochester are such stand-up guys and we all got along so well. I’ve hung out with Zach and Kyle once before; Kyle at UTM and Zach up in Montreal last October for Ben and Alli’s engagement party. Kyle and I hit it off to the point were he was finishing my thoughts at times. I know, it was kind of romantic. It didn’t hurt that I was his constant source of updated Pittsburgh Pirate scores all weekend via the good old iPhone. We all sort of joked at the end of the weekend on Monday saying that Ben is no longer needed as the middle man because we’re all friends now.
I’m really hoping that not a lot of time elapses until the next time we all get together, which definitely includes Rochester. I’m quite intrigued to make a trip down there to eat something called the “garbage plate”. Apparently this is a big plate of fries and gravy with everything else known to mankind on it. I’m sure it’s a heart attack on a plate, but it must be had! My friends from UTM (groomsman and bridesmaids) have had such a profound impact in my life during and post university days. You really don’t meet people like that too often and I really cherish the friendships I’ve forged with them over the years. I eagerly look forward to moving ahead in life with all these individuals close by and sharing my growth with them and taking part in theirs as well.
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