Soc
I became friends with Soc when I moved to Saipan years ago. He and Fr. Tem were my first hosts in Saipan, the first people I lived with outside my family. My stay in Saipan was short, less than 2 years, but our friendship stays with me to this day, perhaps the rest of my days. A self-proclaimed smarty pants, his sense of humor was self depracating, insulting, seldom wholesome. If you know him enough, you know he was hard of hearing; yet, he sang in perfect tune. He loved music-Jose Mari Chan, Sergio Mendez, and Carol King were a few of his favorites. Those music always remind me of Soc. Being friends with Soc didnt mean he'd like you all the time, or you'd tolerate him everytime. But you'd know he cares about you regardless of everything. He was never jealous of his friends' achievements, in fact he talked about it to others proudly. There were many years when Soc and I hardly talked, hardly kept in touch. That's pretty normal for me to many of my old friends, and I'm ok with it. Even more so with Soc because I know he was having fun, living life. That was his gift- whatever situation, wherever he was- by choice or not, he'd make the best of it. But being friends with Soc is different. My guess is he and I were confident about our friendship- that even years and miles apart, our relationship remained. It remained so familial that when he started feeling early signs of his disease, we were on viber almost immediately and constantly. His disease caused him so much pain. But it gave us time to reconnect and talk again.