20190914_emilys_wedding/html/mias_toast.html

2019/10/02 - T.Riddle


from: Travis Riddle <eightslicesofpie@gmail.com>
reply-to: Travis Riddle <eightslicesofpie@gmail.com>
to: stewart.french@gmail.com
date: Oct 2, 2019, 6:38 PM
subject: best man speech

I actually wrote a speech for Andrew and Emily's wedding back in
college, in a public speaking class I had to take. I guess we're about
to see if I actually learned anything in it. I remember Emily enjoying
that speech, so I actually tried digging it up to repurpose it for
today, but unfortunately it was lost to some forgotten laptop hard
drive many years ago. Which was disappointing to me, not because the
speech was especially good, but because it would've meant I didn't
need to write a new one.

I met Andrew when we were in seventh grade. We were in the same math
class, geometry or something. As Andrew and several of you know, I
distinctly remember my first impression of him, which was that when I
saw him sitting there, hunched over his desk doing some math equation
that I was too stupid to understand, he looked like an oversized
baby. Like someone putting the image of an infant into Photoshop-or
honestly maybe even something less sophisticated, like Microsoft
Paint-and stretching it out to be teen-sized.

I met Emily in seventh grade too, because she was my new friend's
girlfriend. All this goes that far back, which is insane to
me. They've been together since before I even knew them. Since the
Oversized Baby Era, which is the clearest indicator that that's true
love.

I feel really lucky to be standing here not just in support of the
groom, but rather both of them. I've known them both for over ten
years and consider both of them to be some of my best friends.

It's safe to say that over the years, we've done everything
together. Big or small. Last year my girlfriend Jenna and I even went
on a trip to Disney World with them, which was probably one of the
best vacations I have ever been on.

But even back in middle and high school when we would all hang out and
I was third wheeling, they never made me feel that way. Andrew and
Emily are two of the kindest, most welcoming people I know. We've
eaten tons of meals together, played hours and hours of games, and
watched countless movies together. Emily maybe isn't always the
biggest fans of the ones I pick out, but we always have a good time
anyway. Hanging out with them has led to some of my most cherished
memories, and I don't think there's anyone in my life I've spent more
time with than these two.

All this to say that in all my time spent with Andrew and Emily, I've
never seen them not happy. Not smiling at each other, not cracking
jokes, not making sure the other is as happy as possible. They've
always been lifting each other up, supporting each other, making each
other laugh, and doing the same for everyone around them.

Andrew once tweeted "Who am I to deny myself anything?" and so with
that, I want to quote one of the first movies I can distinctly
remember seeing with the two of them, over ten years ago, outside at a
drive-in theater on a hot summer night with a few other friends. "Who
can deny the heart that is yearning?" Which, of course, is from Bee
Movie, which I gave a 2 out of 10 on IMDB, and from which this is the
only love-related quote that I could find. Yet somehow it fits these
two. They've known each other since they were kids and have been
through it all together, and their love has always been strong and
unwavering, their hearts always yearning for each other. And like
Andrew said, who is he to deny himself anything?

Congratulations to the both of you, I could not be more thrilled for
you. And Andrew, I am happy to report that you no longer look like an
oversized baby. Although you probably do need a bib when you eat
dinner. Thank you everyone.

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