My wonderful friend Howard

You never treated me any differently than you would anyone else. I remember when I first met you, I thought you wouldn’t like me because my cousin and I were not the best friends in the world. She always thought I was weird. But you were different. You always greeted me with a hello and a cheerful smile. Little did I know that you would turn out to be a really nice friend. In the beach house that our families shared sometimes we would be the only ones up late and we would watch tv. We would watch those dumbest criminal shows and try to hold back our laughter because we didn’t want to wake anyone. It never worked, we always cracked up anyway. We would watch those trivia game shows and answer all the questions.

A really great time was getting to see you and my cousin get married. She wasn’t one who smiled a lot and I was thinking I had never seen her as happy as she was that day. I snuck away from the table I sat at with my family and we drank and danced. It was one of the best memories of my life. I remember you introducing me to your friends, as proud as can be.

Your passing was truly one of the worst times of my life. As long ago as it was, it still feels like yesterday.

By the way, yes, we are still friends. We always will be.