For Pohae
Fri. 03.19.04 - 4:54 p.m.

Feeling: lucky
Listening: the graduation song
Quote: "The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart." -Elizabeth Foley

This is partially what inspired the following entry. Also the fact that these words are long overdue.

I met her in high school. It was the beginning of the fall semester of my junior year. I was sitting in class when this girl dashed in, told the teacher she couldn�t attend class because she had some pressing engagement and handed him a note. He excused her. I remembered thinking.. damn, that girl�s good. That class was unbelievably boring and the teacher? I swear he had taught there for the last 100 years. I can�t even remember what the subject was. Some kind of Hawaiian species/science/history class of sorts.

But back to the girl.

So that was my first impression of her. She was one of those girls that cuts class to do other stuff (what stuff, I don�t know I was a goody two-shoes). I can�t remember how we even became friends after that. What I do know is that we ended up in the same business and computer class. We befriended the teacher. He let us hang out in his office (adjacent to his classroom) whenever we wanted to.

Eventually I got to know her. REALLY know her. I realized there was more to this girl than I had initially seen.

Her name was Pohae. She was wicked smart. She was unbelievably funny. She knew how to pull of perversion with grace. Hehe Oh, and the girl could eat. Damn, she out-ate all of us. Combined.

Over time, we became really good friends.

We skipped classes in high school to hang out in the computer lab together.

We ate chicken locomocos from T3x Drive |nn at lunchtime.

I was in the doctor�s office with her when she found out she was expecting her daughter.

She�d sit on my bed in my dorm room between classes and we�d chat away.

We had nicknames for each other. She was the bottomless pit, I was mento gyrl (still am).

We ate at Caf� Pest0 a LOT.

She introduced me to tequila rose. hehe

She helped me pick out something to wear for the first time I met Y.

She tracked me down online after we lost touch.

And now?

Now, she reads my diary every day. She sends me emails with advice and support whenever she feels like I need it.

She always knows when I need it.

I don�t think I ever told her this, but after my grandma passed away she did something for me that no one had been able to do for me up until then. It was at that moment I knew just how lucky I was to have her in my life.

The days following my grandmother�s death were pretty much a blur. I was so unbelievably numb that I can only recall crying once, that first day. After that.. it was like i turned myself off. I probably did as it was the only way to cope with what had happened. A lot of people stopped by to offer their condolences but no one was able to make me feel even the slightest bit better. Of course, who could in a situation like that? They were all just empty words to me, no matter how heartfelt and sincere the person was.

Until Pohae.

I remember I was at my grandparents� home, alone, a few days after my grandmother�s passing when Pohae showed up unexpectedly. I opened the screen door and stepped out onto the porch. She didn�t try to come up with spiritual quotes or empty words. She just took one look at me and said, "oh case.."

With those two words, I knew. I knew she knew exactly how I felt. I knew she knew what I had lost. How much I was hurting.

I cried. She held me.

For the first time, I felt like someone knew just what I was going through and truly cared.

Years have passed since then and we remain friends. Stronger than ever, I believe. I live in San Francisco now, over 3000 miles away from home but every day, I log into diaryland to read her diary. To find out what funny thing her daughter said today. What the people back home are up to. That she got a raise. The details of the tea party she and her daughter are having this weekend.

..and it all makes me feel like I�m not so far away.. like I saw her just yesterday. As if she�s right here by my side.

Like she always has been.

She possesses this... this PERSONALITY that just sucks you in. She�s so full of LIFE and ENERGY. POSITIVE energy. She has bad days, we all do.. but she laughs right through them. If she complains (which is rarely) she�s stating how FUNNY her situation is! She�s one of the greatest moms I know. She�s sweet, thoughtful and considerate. She's the best friend everyone WISHES they had.

If it hadn�t been for her, I wouldn�t have come out of my shell. I wouldn�t have learned how to laugh at life. How to enjoy food or put on eyeliner. It sounds silly, but it�s like that quote "To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world."

Yeah Pohae, you�re my world. Rock on, sistah. hehe

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