I’ve always called her Ms. Lucas because I knew she would be such a great teacher. Melissa is the humblest person I know. She is compassionate and always willing to help people. I couldn’t marry my best friend without having her behind me. I have known her for over 10 years. We have so many memories together that no matter where we go in life, she will always be family. She has watched me grow into the woman I am today. She can feel the magic between Martinez and I, because we definitely had FUN in our younger days. LOL! I also have to credit Melissa for introducing me to my Kookaburra wings from Outback. Melissa has always had a wardrobe that I wanted to raid. Back in the day, sometimes, we used to wonder how she put some outfits together…but she got it down pact now and always dresses in style. Melissa with the bun….. will always have a special place in my heart.
Nobody understands my hustle more than Toi’e. We used to be on the phone until 5am getting our “rides” for Lyft/Uber and DoorDash. From bartending, to driving, to all the jobs we have worked together, we always have helped each other keep pushing. She has also been and still is my financial setting goal buddy. Although we have our budget goals, she and her mom make fun of me and say that I would meet my financial goals a lot quicker if I just stopped shopping at GIANT. LOL! Hey, it’s not my fault I live within a 3 mile radius of 3 of them. At this point, I don’t know who has had more jobs since we both started grinding at an early age, but Toi’e is the only person I know, who can find a job, anywhere in the world, in two seconds..….LITERALLY. She is always on the move like me, and her infamous phrase, “I gotta go” is fitting for her. We also have our August bday connection. I always tell my fiancé we understand each other well because we are almost the same person and very similar in many ways. She also has a warm heart but got that rude and sarcastic girl side to her. No matter what, I appreciate her for always keeping it 100 with me. She is a rare gem to find, and she is the only friend I have where if I can’t get a hold of her, I just call and talk to her mom! Most importantly, we click so much because we are both DIE HARD COWBOYS FANS!!!!
As you can CLEARLY see from her picture, there are not enough words to describe Tish. We clicked right away in law school, and she has been family ever since. She’s been there for me like nobody else has. We felt comfortable opening each other’s homes to each other shortly after we met. She has been a great friend who has taken me to hospital procedures, and she has waited at the hospital for me for several hours. No matter what she has going on in her life, she will never leave you stranded. She’s the type of friend who you don’t even have to call when you are in dark times. She will be there for you and make you laugh in the process. She is my movie buddy, and whenever we can, we watch suspense movies and find a good laugh to them. The one we always laugh about is “THE BOY.” We all know she loves to talk and every person she meets, can’t resist to laugh or smile. She doesn’t try to be a comedian, but people can’t help but laugh at the craziness of her life. She truly touches every person she meets and leaves a memorable mark on them. She introduced me to the life of Amazon Flex… and we definitely have some laughs from that. I am blessed to have met her.
My smart little cousin. She is the most angelic of the family and never gives any argument as to what she is asked to do. I was so proud of her when she got a full ride to UNC-Chapel Hill, a school, I secretly wished to go to because of Michael Jordan. I learned they rarely take out of towners. I got over it though because as soon as I started at UMD, I knew that it was the most amazing school. I mean our food court was named top 10 in the nation and everyone knows I love food…. Just saying! Let’s not forget about how gorgeous the campus is as well! Anyhow, I am so proud of my Abby, and I remember teaching her how to drive. She does okay for the most part, but I probably would hold off on riding with her on the highway for now. LOL. Abby is also my cooking buddy and loves it when we make lasagne. Although she abandoned me the last time, I look forward to our future cooking times.
“My favorite cousin” as she calls me. She’s my coolest cousin and always stays true to herself. Probably the funniest thing I find about her is that unlike me, she doesn’t let others overwhelm her. What I mean by that is if she is asked to do a million things and all she hears in her head is “Deborah, Deborah, Deborah,” she simply just says “no!” LOL. She is following in my footsteps and got the “travel bug” like I did after I went to Spain. I am proud of her for exploring other countries and islands, and I am sure we will have so much fun on our trip next year. Deborah is like my mini me, and I am so honored to be the cousin she can talk to about anything. Lastly, Deborah is my social media teacher. I literally have to ask her and my other cousin how to post certain things on social media or how to look up something. In my defense, I only have so much time to learn all the new generational stuff. Deborah is also always up to date with what’s in style or what’s going on in the “hip” world. I guess I can also say that she is the fashionista of our family.
Priscilla is my eldest sister and the one who paved the way for my sisters and me. I can’t thank her enough for showing me the true definition of determination and persistence. Despite all the tribulations she went through in college and medical school, she never let her passion for practicing medicine waver. Her strength allowed her to get her to where she is today. I would probably say she is the “smartest” sister in terms of trivia games like jeopardy, family feud etc. She is also the only one who can argue with Martinez about the Lakers. I can’t even tell you who wins because it is a never-ending conversation. Priscilla has always been supportive of me and all me endeavors. She has been particularly helpful because she is a doctor, and some say I can be a hypochondriac. Hey, it’s not my fault! Anyhow, Priscilla also and I share the best rivalry there was in college basketball, Duke v. MD. They may have won more basketball games, but their football team should not have even been in the league… I think the first time I saw MD vs. Duke football it was 58-3… with UMD of course winning. Just saying. Well, good thing she prefers college basketball!
My baby sister! No matter how old she gets, she will still be the baby of our family and our sweet little precious girl. Her smile says it all. A lot of people think I have a lot of friends, but since Pernilla was young, she always was able to find a new friend in the most random places. She always came to my sporting events, whether it was my basketball, soccer, softball games, or track & field meets, and she would find a new friend every time. Pernilla is also dubbed the “fixer” of the family. I don’t know if it’s her chemical engineering degree or what, but she helps me with so many things. If the TV isn’t working, I call Pernilla; if I am having trouble loading Netflix or anything else from our smart tv, I call Pernilla; If the wifi is down I call Pernilla; If the power goes out, I call Pernilla; If the gas isn’t lighting the stove, I call Pernilla, if my mom can’t get her computer mouse to work, she calls Pernilla; My mom and I at least, call Pernilla to fix everything. I gave up on trying to change my car clock years ago. I used to just let it adjust every 6 months with day light savings time or when the clock moves back. However, Pernilla saw that I was having trouble with it, and fixes it every 6 months in about 2 seconds. She is simply the savior of our family. She claims these things I speak of are easy to take care, but I just don’t know anything. I guess we can cross that debate later! She is also a handylady. She drilled holes in my wall and put curtains up. She is just so talented. I literally don’t know what I would do without her. Her presence has always motivated me to keep pushing as I have always wanted to make sure my baby sister is alright! She also introduced me to a show that a lot of people talked about, but I never got the chance to watch called Blackish. While every episode is great, the episodes that stand out to me are Cupcake man and the episode where Dre is obsessed with shoes. Since Pernilla I think knows everything I ask her, I have one last question for her…. WHAT ARE THOSE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!!?!?
Dubbed as “My Twin” Phylicia has always been my inspiration. She knew what she wanted to do at a young age, and she never gave up. She is my famous sister, dancing, acting, and singing solos on the Lion King. I have seen her perform in different cities, and it warms my heart that my sister enjoyed and loved what she was doing. She is now onto bigger and better things doing some screen writing for a television network and writing a podcase for HBO, and I know that she will keep pushing until she gets to be exactly where she wants to be. Seriously, she is the most giving and selfless person you will ever meet. She always puts everyone else before herself. There aren’t enough deeds in the world to thank her for what she has done for our family. What also makes her shine is that she appreciates everything, even the smallest things. She is truly an angel, and there aren’t enough words to describe her affection towards people. She is also my fitness motivation. How she runs every day. . . I don’t know. I keep telling her that I will go on one of these runs with her but after she trained for months and ran 10 miles in a marathon for “fun” last year, I decided that it’s best to just keep avoiding the subject! Phylicia is also my Law & Order SVU buddy. We both know that once we hear the intro and hear “…these dedicated detectives are from an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit…these are their stories,” we have to watch the whole episode. On marathon days, it’s tough for us to do anything else. LOL.
Salina is one of the funniest people you will ever meet. She has proved that it doesn’t matter how many miles you live from someone, a strong bond can form and be maintained. We have so many memories together, and we have traveled to many places. It’s fitting that I met my travel buddy in Spain! Although we have never lived in the same state, we have always been great friends to each other, and we have made sure to visit each other every so often. We share many of the same values, and I credit her for teaching me many new things. We also share a love for exploring food that is “life-changing.” Those Malaysian pancakes we had in London, is an example of what we consider life changing, as well as the candid bacon that we had in New Orleans. I clearly wouldn’t be getting married without her. She was there right by my side when I met the love of my life, and she has been supportive of us since day 1.
I have always found value in her words of wisdom relating to different areas of my life. We both also value memories and take photos of everything. We both know that we will send each other a bunch of pictures. She is truly one of a kind and I am so thankful I met her. There is nobody else who I can talk hours upon hours on the phone with. Martinez and his friend tried to beat our record, but I think they got to 4 hours and gave up. I think our record is around the 7-hour mark. Good luck beating that. Since we our conversations typically go over our anticipated timeframe, and we always have a lot to catch up, we can’t talk on the phone as frequently, but we text daily. Sometimes when my phone vibrates back to back to back, after about the 8th text, my fiancé will ask who is that? Without looking at my phone, I will say “it’s Salina probably catching up on our messages.” LOL. Nowadays, he knows the deal and asks… who is that Salina? Yessir LOL!
Good friends are hard to come by, and clearly best friends you never run out of stuff to talk about… you just run out of time. We also have basically the same taste in TV shows. She has put me on to some of my favorite shows and vice versa. There are so many other good things I can say about Salina but the last thing I’ll mention is that we understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I.E., she is the more organized/planner out of the two of us and when we go on trips, she makes sure we get done what we need to. I live my life on the “go” which used to drive her crazy, but now she understands that no matter how tight the deadline or timeframe, we will make it! For example, one time when we were at the airport, I had us getting snacks at a different part of the terminal, not realizing her flight was boarding. I thought her departure time was her boarding time. When we realized her flight was about to leave, we rushed to her gate, and the gate said, “Boarding Closed.” They essentially had to escort her out to the plane; but hey, moral of the story is that she still made it! Now she knows that if she doesn’t get to the airport 2 hours in advance like she used to, she will still make it, and she has since had some close calls herself LOL! I have had a lost of close calls, the latest when I got to DCA airport literally 17 minutes before FLIGHT DEPARTURE. That was a little too close even for me, but hey, I still made it! Although I try not to live my life on edge, that’s just the way my life rolls, but what’s more important is that she knows now that no matter the time constraint, I will make it happen. Since I met her, I also learned how to plan a little bit in advance for our trips. All that to say, we balance each other out perfectly, and I couldn’t ask for a better friend.
I have known Lilly since I was 5, and our birthdays are 6 days apart. We literally did almost everything together growing up. We played basketball, softball, soccer, literally everything you can think of. When we speak of the “classic movies” I watched a few of them with her, and I also watched my all-time favorite movie with her. One of my most memorable moments with her is when we went to the movie theatre in the 8th grade, and while we were waiting for my mom to pick us up, we literally saw this man having a whole conversation with a tree. Literally, we thought we were seeing and hearing things. Our imaginations were confirmed when a gentleman approached us and said he wanted to get a ride with us because the man looked crazy talking to the tree. Another memorable moment is when our eighth-grade teacher, put our desks outside of the classroom because we were talking too much, and I guess that was supposed to be our punishment, even though we kept laughing outside? LOL! Lilly has a sense of humor like no other and we find humor in literally everything. We have been there for each other, through every major event of our lives, one way or another. Although she lives millions of miles away in a different country, she still has made time to give me ideas and talk to me almost every day to keep me sane with wedding planning. She is truly one of a kind and I couldn’t ask for a better sister!
Our dearest Gabz. There is no wedding without your smile or your laugh. The way you light up the room when you walk in is unmatched. It’s been a pleasure to be a part of your life and watch you grow. You are the smartest 4-year-old there is out there. I don’t know any other child who could spell antibacterial when they were two years old like you did. You have sent us so many birthday and good luck videos that we will cherish forever. It’s amazing how you have been a part of a couple of plays and slayed your role. I keep telling your mom to put you in acting so we can be rich . . . but I guess she is right to be more focused on your education. I know your school has already said you were “gifted” but at this point when you test into school, you may seriously be on like a 4th or 5th grade level. You are the best niece I could ever ask for and you will always have a place in our hearts.
Ever since I first met Faith, I knew she was destined to do great things. I first saw this when I observed her interactions with her big brother, Martinez, on his graduation day. Faith is smart and gets good grades in school. When I heard her talk back to her brother with some confidence in a “matter of fact way” I knew we would get along well. To celebrate Martinez’ law school graduation, we all went out to get wings of course…with Ranch… then we went to a bowling alley. Although Faith had never been bowling before, both her and Martinez were challenging each other and neck and neck in the game. Martinez thought because he won the first time he played, that he had “natural talent” and he was unbeatable… WRONG! Faith came to challenge her brother and win. She had that “fire” in her and was not letting up one bit. Faith was competitive like I was and she was not going to let him beat her. Although I let him win because it was his special day, it was nice to see his sister go at him and prove him wrong. At the end of the game, both Martinez and Faith tied, so they decided to do a tie breaker round to see who the clear champion was. Although Martinez thinks he won, Faith came from behind and started hitting strikes. She was the clear winner… at least in my book, but Martinez for some reason keeps thinking that he won. The truth is me and my soon to be sister-in-law know who the real winner was. Faith is one fearless and bright young lady, and I know the best is yet to come for her.
Money Mike has been there for me since orientation at the State’s Attorney’s office. I knew the first day I met him that we would be good friends. He always finds a way to joke around the work we have. He’s always has been supportive, and he helped me through the start of my legal profession. He is the only one who understands the ups and downs of District Court. I couldn’t ask a better friend in the office. He’s always finds a way to smile through our hard times and long dockets. LOL
The guy who is always late to everything. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to be my best man, someone since day 1 has been chill and accepted me as a brother. We developed a friendship our first year of law school and clicked. Out of all my friends, he advised me of the seriousness of marriage. His last-minute antics came in handy, when he planned a last minute trip to New Orleans. While he is late to everything else, he was right on time for the trip where I met my wife.
He has always been the person I looked up to, when I wanted to see what a great marriage looked like. I appreciate him for giving me the blueprint to how I should treat my future wife.
The cousin I have always admired and respected. I definitely couldn't imagine having this day without you standing behind me as a groomsman. Your example has taught me so much about life and manhood. You are always there to offer words of encouragement and support whenever I don't have the answer to something. I honestly don't know anyone who is more positive and optimistic about life than this guy! Whether it's the daily good morning texts I see on my Facebook timeline or the postings to your story, I am always inspired to keep that mamba mentality because of your example.
My brother, I am extremely proud of you. You proved so many people wrong through your determination, and tenacity to believe in yourself when others doubted you. You’re starting to follow in my footsteps. Respect.
Justin, the man I credit for meeting my wife. Who would have thought that a push in New Orleans would lead me to moving up to Maryland, marrying the love of my life, and asking you to be one of my groomsmen. Ever since I met you in law school, I have always respected your grind and determination to succeed. While I consider Justin to be the life of the party. The craziest part is that this man seemed to live in the library. Good just wasn't good enough for him. His commitment to his craft definitely showed me that he was on the grind and in pursuit of greatness. Out of all the fellas, Justin is definitely the funniest. What was mind boggling to me was that I had class with Justin, ate with Justin, hung out with him, went shopping with him, stayed up late studying with him, partied with him and this man had the audacity to go through 3 years of law school with me, and never mentioned that he had a twin brother. I didn't know until I kept calling his name at graduation and this guy (his brother) kept looking at me funny and said "O, I'm not Justin I'm his twin! Watch out Kevin Hart because Justin is right behind you with his jokes.
Cordell- or should I say Mr. President. He was the first friend I met before I move to Maryland. He welcomed me with open arms and treated me like a brother. It feels good to have another brother in the office with me, and I am sure we will have a lot of stories to share. I appreciate you standing behind me on the biggest day of my life.
My lil bro, so proud of the young man you’ve become. I knew from a very young age that you would do great things. I saw your talent and knew you were the most talented, whether it was playing football or now, pursing a music career. Your big brother is still behind you. Keep pushing! Love you man.
Thank you, brother! You’ve supported me and Patty-Sahn since day 1, whether it was working out in the gym together (although I still can’t come two days back to back lol) or helping me to jumpstart that Honda. Your support is unmatched bro. I honestly don’t know how you have dealt with Patty-Sahn all these years, but hopefully, you don’t mind me bugging you for some tips. In all seriousness, respect to you bro.
You were the person I looked up to in law school. You may not know this, but you inspired me to work harder and be more disciplined. Behind the serious approach you had in law school, you’ve always had the biggest personality. You were a leader in law school through joining some of the most prestigious organizations and becoming a social activist in the community. You amazed me by engaging in peaceful protests when you thought it was necessary. . . you have always been a great example to follow bro. Thank you for standing behind me on the most important day in my life.
I couldn't have asked for a better person to be my ring bearer. I see so much of myself in him when I was his age. He is smart and goal oriented. He is always excited to show me his grades and then proceed to ask for $20 dollars lol. When Oreon sets his mind to do something, he just gets it done, no excuses. That's real mamba mentality! I wouldn't be surprised at anything he does in the future! I expect great things from my little cuzzo.