Although we are only a year apart, my brother and I share very few similarities.
He was the athletic one who always had a girlfriend. I was the nerdy sibling that struggled with relationships well into adulthood. While my brother would always accompany my father on hunting trips to White River Park in Walworth County, I could barely shoot a gun, let alone use one to take down a deer or a black bear. Instead of hunting like our father, I took after our mother much more and enjoyed helping her in the flower and vegetable garden. This is where I discovered my love for botany. While we often bought pallets of flowers to plant, my mom is the one who taught me how to raise plants from seeds. Growing watermelons one year was so rewarding that I became obsessed with hobby farming. By the time I got to Muskegon Community College, I realized that I wanted to not only study botany, but also become a marijuana grower. While I’m still in graduate school in Kalamazoo, my brother and I often return home to Whitelake to visit our parents. He’s always wanting to visit the breweries, but I’d much rather stop at one of the many cannabis dispensaries in the city. There is phenomenal cannabis in western Michigan if you know where to look. You’ll find several near the exit to U.S. 31 by Whitehall Rd. My brother is the beer fan in the family while I prefer cannabis in almost all situations. At least Whitehall has something to offer both of us.