Suruchi and Neal

I met David 30 years ago....and he's the best man at my wedding. That makes me feel quite old.  It's hard to describe someone who you've known your entire life without going in to long, tangential, inside stories, that don't mean much to anyone else. Suffice it to to say, since the first day I met David, I've been amazed by the type of person he is. He is insanely intelligent, thoughtful,  and a great listener. I've grown up with him my whole life and am constantly amazed by his ability to balance his personal interests with his professional life. When he's not biking, running, building something, or getting in to fierce debates in our group chat, he's molding minds as a professor of biology at the University of Iowa. David is lucky to be married to his wife Jenni, who puts up with his obsession with bikes. I was lucky to stand up for David at his wedding to Jenni, and I am grateful he will get to do the same for me! If anyone needs their bicycle fixed at the wedding, David is available, please ask for the wedding discount as he is pricey!

Brandon and I were in the same 2nd grade class and have been friends ever since. When you make a list of truly nice, decent, people, you don't go too long without including Brandon. Brandon is the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back and get mad at you for thanking him. He may, however, put you in a wrestling hold.....He has an infectious laugh, an amazing wit, and can you tell you anything you need to know about wrestling. I was thrilled to be a groomsmen in his wedding to his amazing wife Chelsea, who is my go to for all matters of spelling/rules of English, and love watching Brandon interact with his adorable daughter, Ruby.

I met AJ on the mean streets of Macon in elementary school. AJ spends his days expanding his real estate empire, his afternoons on the ski slopes in Utah, and nights in the hospital working as a pharmacist. I met AJ in the 4th grade when we both were placed on the basketball team for kids not good at basketball. What we lacked in skill, we made up for in lack of talent. AJ is incredibly smart and seizes every day. Despite my best efforts to sabotage him, AJ was co valedictorian of our high school class with some loser. If you EVER wanted to meet a co-captain of a conference champion Academic Team, here's your chance! 

Clint has been my friend since elementary school and remained that my entire life. He is one of the nicest people you can ever meet and has the best laugh. Clint was "the man," growing up, captain of the football team, set countless track and field records, and was all around one of the most popular kids in school. Despite that, he still was my friend. He is always very nice to everyone he meets, but be warned, he is an ELITE dancer and will battle anyone who challenges him to a dance off. Clint just welcomed his second son, Rockland to his family which includes his amazing wife Natalie, and oldest son Silas. Feel free to ask Clint how fast he can run 400 meters (hint: it's FAST).

Ryan was born with amazing, flowing, hair and has a great taste in baseball teams. I met Ryan for the first time in college where he lived with David in their undergraduate days. I became better friends with Ryan after moving to St. Louis (the greatest city in the world), and he happened to be the first friend I introduced Suruchi too. If you ever need someone to have a rationale, insightful, conversation with, he's your man. If you need to know anything that ever happened during the 2011 World Series, Ryan is also your man. Ryan is a good example of the benefits of "marrying up," and has an amazing wife Kelsey and two beautiful daughters, Molly and Violet. When you meet him, please congratulate him on his Mother Bread award (if you don't know what that is, ask him that too!). Update: he is also a Golden Bread Award winner.

Straight from the land down under, Jay is one of the hardest working, most polite, and energetic people you will meet. He lights up every room he is in, most likely because he's a Boston guy, and he's normally celebrating a championship. Jay has an infectious personality and cuts big time deals before I wake up in the morning. I look up to him for the kind of man he is and not just because of how tall he is. He makes everyone around him feel better when he's around and has been absolute rock of support to me. It's no surprise that he snagged the Matron of Honor! 

I met "Cheese" when we were both Emergency Medicine interns at the Orlando Regional Medical Center. Cheese is smart, talented, and one of the best doctors I know. Somehow, he has managed to be an even better friend. Cheese and I lived together for 3 years in Orlando, and shared too many good memories to count. I learned a ton from Cheese, including dedication to your work, discipline, and to have courage in your convictions. Cheese is a big time Emergency Medicine physician now and gets to share his life with his amazing wife Meredith, and two kids Shea and Bo. Cheese likes salad, cucumbers, and also requests 3 different kinds of drinks at one sitting when he goes out, ask him why!