I first met Pat Li in my computer class in 7th grade. He was a quiet guy - one that didn't talk much. However, upon learning he was a friendly guy who was willing to buy stuff for people, I gave our friendship a shot. I must admit that one trait that I found attractive in him was his money and I did take advantage of what he offered, from paid-shopping to money lending. At first, I thought my friendship would repay his efforts to spend, but as I got to know him better, I knew that money could not come between friendship.

Once in 8th grade, Pat and I became closer friends through my efforts to repay him somehow and also his willingness to help any financial difficulty I had. He lent me money or gave me goodies I found good use for, but this time around, I made sure I gave something back, either by helping him do his work, specifically his projects, and also letting him use my abudance in educational resources. It worked out ok, but I could sense that we both felt his money was more of value. However, other things, such as our time spent playing basketball together or just hanging out helped to put money out of our minds. I felt we were good enough friends, but something about the atmosphere needed to be changed.

The turning point in our attitude towards our friendship came after a bet we made on a football game. I had promised to pay back the $100+ I owed him from the previous year, but I never felt the need. However, after making a high priced bet on the Arizona-Cowboy football game, I lost, with a shocking upset from Arizona, and I ended up paying all the money I owed him. I kept my word and it was this that finally established some sort of trust. Also, whenever we dined out, I willingly bought him food and also brought him over to my house to eat. Now, at what appears to be the height of our friendship, where each moment spent can be scrapped forever, he now has to leave me.

My first reaction was a "whatever" kind of thing because Union didn't seem so far away. However, when I thought about all the times we walked in the hallways together to classes and also the time spent playing at a park, I felt a deep sadness. I have lost other friends because they had to move away, but they moved before our friendship truly blossomed and caused me little grief. With Pat moving at such a critical time in my life, where friends are such an important part of my emotion and growing up, I know I'll miss him for all the assurance he brought me.

As I await for Pat's moving date, I can only cherish our last moments as kids going to the same high school and enjoying time as chums. Losing a friend has never been so tough and because I know there will never be another kid like Pat, I know I'll have to cope with the big void he'll leave me. I can only pray for someone as understanding and perfectly matched for my feelings as Pat, but because life always has its imperfections, I'll have to learn to live with the friends I have and hope they'll step up to fill his shoes. Pat, we'll all miss you and always keep in touch~