It's been forty days...

Exhibit A.

It's been forty days and I wish... I've been a better friend. And I know you hate anything cheesy, so I'll try not to be (ng sobra). 

Last January 11, 2016... I lost a "Kenneth Paul Tolentino Cajigal" in my life. For the almost two years we've been apart, I never get to spend my every "hell" day with him. But with that thought that I'll never be able to spend time with him again (in this lifetime) is just too painful.

Kenneth was a dear friend of mine from Ateneo law, we were both from Block C (2017) and part of the same group of friends - the APID. (baks, sorry sa paulit ulit na pagtawag ng friend, I just can't even). I was trying to back read our conversations to see how the friendship started, with each scroll brought back a lot of happy and painful memories kaya wag nang magbackread. 

Well... being friends with Kenneth was not as easy as it should be. But come to think of it, through and through - he never changed! 

He's the type of person that will welcome you with open arms and bag full of insults. With just a month of law school, he already called me Apple. That's just how comfortable he was with me. Always with the panlalait. Sympre, I have to call him names as well - ganyan talaga kami magpakita ng concern with each other. I guess, that's how he shows his friendship as well (to us anyway).

Other than being our group's resident laitero (Mind you, everyone of us is. Kaya kami talaga friends), he's the type of person that will never back down from an argument. If alam niyang tama siya, he'll never give up to prove his point. And that's probably one of the reason why he could have been one of the best lawyer we never had. Pero natatawa pa din ako pagnaalala kong hindi niya alam kung ano yung carabeef. Sa Ynot case ata to? Hahaha! 

He's also one of the most brilliant person I've ever met! No sugarcoating needed, talagang he's just incredible. He's the type of person that will recite a case not just to impress a professor or a classmate but because he was so passionate on how the case went. He will explain every medical jargon as if it was as simple as the ABC's. Memorized almost every detail, even the enumerations kahit di talaga "important". By the end of our class, I will be left dumbfounded on how impressive he is. Also, I just would like to point out that he's the type of (traydor) classmate that will almost always attend classes prepared - despite staying out late. I've been studying law for almost 3 years now, and that never happened to me (hindi naman sa tamad pero, yung hindi lang talaga recit ready). But with him, ay! Grabe!

He may have said or done some unforgivable things to other people but he told me one thing, "pag kaibigan kita, hanggang sa huli - kaibigan kita." True to his word, he never pointed out my shortcomings as something negative but rather, he'll remind me that I am just one lazy person. I never imagined that I will be able to (continuously) qualify to this high standards... but I did. And for that, I am thankful. Also as he pointed out, his friendship can easily be bought with food! So yeah, I think that's the real reason why we're friends - our common love for food.

But, did you know that he's also very vain or was just really playful? He will fill my (our) phone and tablet with his 100 selfies all taken from the same angle na naka burst mode pa, but I've also done the same to his phone. Oh dear me, I will definitely miss that. **see exhibit A

One thing about Kenneth is that, he never wanted to show his weakness. Although, with his love life? That was his one flaw that "we" all knew. Hehehe, love you!! He fought every obstacle head held up high. As much as possible, he will not ask for help hangga't kaya niya. 

Until cancer decided to make a comeback we never expected.

The last time I was able to "talk" to him was Christmas. We made plans for his birthday. It was a short conversation, as he slept "early" that night.. We're supposed to be having dinner - arroz valenciana as he requested.

He was only 26 (just 9 days away from being 27) when he passed away and I was only able to know him for a short time of almost 3 years. Pero hindi naman basis ang length of time spent sa kung gaano kalaki yung impact na nagawa ng isang tao sa buhay para marealize ang importance and purpose niya. Unexpectedly, I've learned a lot from him. I realized... he touched so many lives.


And now, it's been forty days since... and I still can't believe that he's gone.