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| January 13, 1991 - January 4, 2009 |
Up until now, I still can’t believe what happened. A part of me keeps thinking that maybe, somehow, next week or next month, I’ll see him again—that we might bump into each other somewhere, have a little chitchat, or catch up. But I have to accept the painful truth: that’s never going to happen. He’s gone.
I remember it was late at night, past 9 PM, when I received a message from my best friend. At first, I almost ignored it because I thought it was just another forwarded quote. I was casually scrolling through the text until I saw his name toward the end. That’s when I read the message again—this time carefully—and realized it was about his passing. I didn’t know how to react. For a moment, I even wondered if it was some kind of a joke. Maybe I was in denial. But deep down, I knew—no one would ever joke about something like that.
To some people, he was known for being mean—a real badass, even a bully. Hehe! Proof of that is the fact that we, his friends, used to call him “Big Boss.” But just like most people, there was more to him than what met the eye. He may have seemed intimidating on the outside, but deep down, he had a soft heart, especially when it came to his friends.
He was the type of person who spoke his mind without hesitation, often coming across as if he didn’t care about other people’s feelings. But I always felt that was just a wall he built around himself—his way of protecting himself from being hurt. One thing I can say for sure, though—when it came to his friends, he was always ready to fight.
I guess it takes one to understand one. The moment he felt that I understood him—that I saw why he acted the way he did and why he spoke the way he spoke—that’s when he started to trust me as his friend. Looking back, it’s funny how happy I was when that happened, especially considering how unpleasant our first meeting was.
Now, I feel even more grateful that we became friends. I’m glad I got to know that side of him. At least, I have something truly good to remember about him. And I’m writing this not just because he’s gone—not just to say something nice about him—but because this is exactly how I feel. And he truly deserves to be remembered this way.
