Today marks Brian’s and my 20th anniversary of when we started dating. We had been spending a lot of time together and decided to take a trip to Florida. To be honest, I think that was the first—and last—trip I ever let Mr. Williams plan. It was an adventure from start to finish; I’m pretty sure we spent two weeks driving all over Florida. We visited Brian’s friends, toured botanical gardens, and popped into nurseries along the way. It was wonderful to finally put faces and places to the stories Brian had told me, and to see the people and locations that had inspired him.
We ended our trip camping on a beach in the Keys. We cooked breakfast over a campfire and spent our days snorkeling, but the most memorable parts were the raccoons trying to get into our tent at night and being eaten alive by sand fleas. None of this even woke Brian—he’d been swimming all day and was completely out. I, on the other hand, ended up sleeping in the truck, which turned out to be a very wise decision since I was basically candy for the sand fleas.
It was at the beginning of that trip that Brian asked me to be his girlfriend, and the real adventure began. Over the past twenty years, we’ve traveled the world in search of beautiful plants and stunning views. We’ve worked side by side selling plants, and we’ve built houses and greenhouses together. I always say: if you want to marry someone, travel with them first. That’s what we did—and it turned out great!
Sarah
