Do you have that special someone in your life that never fails to brighten up your life? That special someone who you look at with an awing passion. No matter if it is a friend, coworker, love interest, significant other, family member, or whatever the case may be; These people are truly a blessing.

While visiting Mercer Botanical Gardens in North Harris County with a beloved friend of mind, we stumbled across a new addition to the gardens: The Shakespeare Garden. The garden was named after England's very own William Shakespeare. If you're wondering who that is, he is one of the most well-known poets of all time, gracing the world with heart pounding, mind-boggling poems.

While exploring his garden, we came across a plaque that reads, "The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem; For that sweet odor which doth in it live." That quote immediately captured my inner poet. I began to endlessly explain the quote's meaning, in my opinion at least, to my friend. I elaborated on how the rose is a symbol of love and all of the other “ideal” happiness in life. Every time we see a rose, we think it is more beautiful than it actually is because we are consumed with the idea of the "perfect" love. But boy was I wrong, after reading the entire Sonnet, I was fully able to capture its meaning. So while I laid upon the grass, I read Sonnet 54:

O how much more doth beauty beauteous seem
By that sweet ornament which truth doth give!
The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem
For that sweet odor which doth in it live.
The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye
As the perfumèd tincture of the roses,
Hang on such thorns, and play as wantonly,
When summer’s breath their maskèd buds discloses;
But for their virtue only is their show,
They live unwooed, and unrespected fade,
Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so;
Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odors made;
  And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth;
  When that shall vade, my verse distills your truth.

For those not able to understand the difficult speaking patterns of Older English, Here the modern translated version:

Beauty seems so much more beautiful when it comes with honesty and integrity. Roses are beautiful, but we think they’re even more so because of their sweet scent. Wildflowers have as deep a color as fragrant roses; their thorns are the same, and their beauty broadcasts just as loudly when summer opens their buds. But because their only virtue is their looks, no one wants or respects them and they die unnoticed and alone. Sweet roses don’t suffer that fate. When they die, the most fragrant perfumes are made from their corpses. The same is true of you, beautiful youth. When you fade away, my poems will preserve your essence

Then I realized what he meant! Sometimes the things that society deems "ugly" have the same qualities as the things that we deem "beautiful", but the "ugly" things do not receive the same respect and recognition. Then he goes on to dedicate the poem to his "beautiful youth".

So here I am, awed by Sonnet 54. I realize that my rose, that is even more beautiful to me because of her sweet, thoughtful, caring, personality, is my friend that accompanied to the gardens: Catherine Caballero. She is my love. Not romantically, but of friendship. I know that if I ever need someone to talk to, she is always there for me with open arms, and vice versa. Yes, I haven't been there since the very beginning, and yeah maybe we don't tell each other every little detail that goes on in each other lives. Yes, there are times when she aggravates the soul out of me, and me to her. (Me to her more often, because I am one VERY annoying person) Yes, there are times when we become super mad at each other and simply just want to kill each other. Stil, I am forever grateful for our friendship.

I love her, from the apex of my heart to my superior vena cava. My love for her pumps throughout my heart travels through my pulmonary circuit and then travels to every single part of my body through the aorta. (Sorry, that was the inner future doctor in me). She's a year younger than I am, so I try to best to help guide her on the right path. Always having her best interest at heart.

Teaching her to never submit to the cruelty that this harsh world may through her way. Teaching her to never let a guy take advantage of her, or to never take advantage of a guy. Teaching her self-defense and many other valuable life skills. She is such a sweetheart, she hardly does anything wrong. But when she does, best believe that I am there to tell her exactly what she did wrong. When I graduate this Spring and move thousands of miles away from her to attend college, I know that I am going to miss her dearly.

My dear friend, thousands of mile away, for years. The only thing connecting us is FaceTime. However, I have strong faith that our friendship will endure the test of time and distance. So like Shakespeare dedicated Sonnet 54 to his beloved, I am dedicating this article to her, my dearly beloved friend.

My dear Catherine, may our friendship never fade. May it not dissipate, for it was not built to disintegrate. I will forever cherish the memories that we share, holding on to each moment with every gasping breath. Thank you for blessing me with your unwavering friendship, putting up with me through all of my mood swings, ups, and downs. Even though you know how to push every single one of my buttons, somehow, as if like magic, you know how to carefully sew those buttons back on. I do not know where life after graduation will take our friendship, but I know for certain that I will try my best to keep you in my life, until my very last breath. For A.L.W.A.Y.S., F.O.R.E.V.E.R., for our L.O.V.E.

A
Life
Without
Accompanying
You
Sucks,

For
Our
Raging,
Endless,
Vehemence
Eternally
Radiates.

For our

Love
Offers
Virtually
Everything.

My dear, as I tear up writing this, just know that you are one of the roses in my life. A rose that will never die. A rose that never loses a pedal. A rose that will always carry that sweet aroma that I love so dearly.