Michael Nunez and Erin Rogers got married on May 29, 2011 at the Forster Mansion in San Juan Capistrano at 4:30 PM. Michael and Erin are two of my best friends and also happen to be two of our heroes. We have a lot of great memories together and I am extremely happy for the two of them. After dating for nearly ten years they finally tied the knot at the gorgeous ceremony this past weekend.
You may remember Michael Nunez from some of our earlier posts, http://runningbrothers.com/?s=Michael+Nunez, Michael has joined me on several runs and we have also spent a lot of time together working out at the gym.
Erin Rogers has also been featured as one of The Running Brother’s heroes, http://runningbrothers.com/?s=Erin+Rogers. Erin and I have been on a walk or two in our day and she is one of my greatest friends. I think that if I really ever do need to talk to someone about serious events in my life that Erin has always been there for me.
Michael asked me to be a groomsman in his wedding and I could not have been more honored, because both he and Erin are two of my best friends.
I think Michael might have obseessive-compulsive disorder, it doesn’t matter where we are, but you will frequently find Michael cleaning. I remember the nights when we’d used to go out and party every weekend and Michael was always the last one to leave, when everyone else was trying to get home, or passed out from drinking too much, Michael was always up and helping to clean up whoevers house we happened to be partying at. I remember him cleaning up at my house after a raging party and I told him to stop cleaning and that I’d clean everything up in the morning . . . He continued to clean anyways, because that’s the kind of guy he is . . . always thinking about others before himself. Michael is truly one in a million. As a friend, he can always be counted on, as a man, he can make you think and value your opinions, and as a businessman, you will not find a harder worker.
I don’t think that Michael has ever been wrong about anything. In 2004, I can remember watching the Super Bowl between the St. Louis Rams and the Carolina Panthers, which finished with New England winning the game 32 – 29. Somehow, we got into a discussion about the score of the game and Mike swore up and down that the score was 32 – 28. I don’t know how the discussion went, but basically we enlisted the 20 or so people in the house to all confirm that the outcome of the game was 32 – 28. Michael still disagreed and we eventually made the commitment to look it up online. Mike was in charge of the mouse and found a website that showed the final score . . . 32 – 28 and Mike turned around and said three words, “The Internets wrong.” And the funny thing was, was that he “knew” that the Internet was wrong. Out of all of my friends, Michael is by far the most opinionated. He and I have had long conversations about a variety of different topics and while he and I don’t agree on everything all the time, he makes me a better person, by helping me to see a world through a different lense . . . by helping me to think for myself and develop strong opinions about the world around me.
Ask any one of our friends one thing they can say about Michael and the first thing they will say that he is a loyal friend. One thing that Michael does, that none of my other close friends do is he calls me just to see how I’m doing. It doesn’t take much effort on his part, and to be honest, I’ve always thought it’s a little weird, but it’s something that I wish I did more of myself. Getting these phone calls from Mike have always cheered me up, to know that I have a friend out there who is thinking about me when I’m not around. Sometimes, we don’t let others know that we care about them . . . I know that Mike has always valued our friendship and, in that respect, I wish I was a lot more like him.
Mike and I talk about business quite a lot and I have always said that out of all my friends, if I were to go into business with anyone it would be Michael. I don’t know anyone who has a greater work ethic than Mike. I think of him as this Renaissance Man that knows how to do a variety of different things. Throughout the time that I have known him Mike has taken on a variety of different tasks for different people over the years. I know he has worked with just about every single one of our friends and has performed different functions for each of them. I can remember one time being called by Mike to pick up a tanning bed from Richie’s Mom’s tanning salons. I agreed to come by and help out and we eventually moved this tanning bed out of the salon. And Michael directed us every step of the way. What struck me about that was that situation was that it was something that he chose to do because he was helping someone else. He has always been able to enlist the help of others, to get something done for someone else and Mike has always been that way, always willing, able and eager to help other people. And when he does, he does the best job he can.
I feel like I have known Erin forever and since High School have always considered her my best female friend. We have a lot of memories together and I think the greatest of which came from our Prank Wars just after High School. My friend Jimmy and I played one of the best pranks on Erin of all time, I gave Erin’s Mom a call and asked her if we could come over to toilet paper her room one day when Erin was out to school. We filled all of her pants pockets with little pieces of paper that said “Haha” on them. She says she still finds those to this day. We spent hours toilet papering her room and giggling the entire time. The last thing we did was have her Mom take a picture of us inside her room and taped the Polaroid picture to her door. Erin wears her expressions on her face and to this day I can still imagine the look on her face. If only there was a way that I can see the look on her face, knowing that she’d been had.
In retaliation, Erin drove around for hours looking for road kill during one of my soccer games. And yes, I mean she literally went out looking for road kill and found a gigantic possum. I mean, this thing was huge, with nails that were at least an inch long. She then proceeded to put this possum on the back of my Honda del Sol. After my soccer game, I came to my car and found this dead possum lying on the trunk of my car . . . I knew it was Erin and as Erin says, I was furious. She said she had never seen me so mad and that ended our prank war.
And although Erin says I was mad and upset at her, I know that it may have looked that way, but it couldn’t possibly be true. Erin has been one of the sweetest, most genuine girls I have had the pleasure of calling my friend. She has been there for me during the times in my life that I have needed someone to talk to and has always left me with a more positive outlook on things then I had before talking with her. Her attitude and the way she treats people is infectious, it’s no wonder she became a nurse. She always treats others with respect and attacks her problems with a smile on her face. I can’t think of a single person that would have a negative thing to say about Erin, because there is nothing negative anyone could possibly say about her. Mike is a lucky guy.
Erin, with Michael you will never have to worry about having a messy house because Michael will clean it. Michael will always be right, at least initially, but give him time and he will see your side of things. In him, you will have a great group of friends that are vested in your well-being and care about your relationship with each other. And, you will have someone who will devote his life to helping the lives of others. Mike and Erin are two of my best friends and I could not be happier that two people who I consider my friends and who The Running Brothers consider our heroes found each other.
Every year since I was 13 years old, my Dad has taken me on a Father-Son Golf Trip. When my brother turned 13, he joined us on our annual adventure and over the years we have played courses in Temecula, San Diego, Palm Springs, Mexico, Buellton, among many others. This year we played golf at River Ridge Golf Course in Oxnard.
