Josh, I hope you can hear me, wherever you are.

Man, your departures are always so abrupt. You never take the time to say a proper goodbye, but I suppose that is just your way of hiding your sensitive side. You were never one to savor somber moments either, so I am going to keep it that way. This eulogy will be a re-confirmation and re-validation of all the things about you that have made me a better man for knowing you.

The first word that comes to mind when describing you is loyalty. You are absolutely steadfast in that aspect. Through good times and bad, you have stayed a true friend of mine for the past 20 years. Whenever I was in need, you would be one of the first to call and say, “What do you need, man? Just tell me”, and I knew I could count on you for help. And you have never asked for anything in return. You are definitely a good man to have on my side of the table.

You are also a very smart man. You have always been one of my most ferocious intellectual rivals. I have learned so much from you, and through countless hours of debate in subjects ranging from economics to history, I have gained a foothold in areas that tend not to be my strength. I still have many of the books that you made me read. While it was a pain when I was still learning the English language, these are now treasures that I cherish to this day. And how can I forget how we used to cut class to battle each other in various strategy games. In the end, you always gained strategic advantage through canny insights into the underlying fundamentals, and I would just be crushed.

But above all, you are a visionary. It was during our Junior year in high school that we started our first business venture together. It was a simple gig, selling Chinese food for a few bucks here and there, but it got us started. You are always up to new challenges, such as viticulture, architecture, construction, and investments, and as you study new material, you would absorb them very quickly, and come up with new ideas which we could explore as business opportunities. The effort we made starting an Internet based clothing store in 1994, working with designers such as Nicole Miller, formed the foundation for businesses that I run to this day.

Josh, as you can see, almost every bit of my life was in one way or another shaped through our friendship. To the rest of the world, we are best friends, sharing so much of our time and interests since high school. To me, you are family. We may not share flesh nor blood, but in every other aspect, you are the brother I had always wished for. There must be so many things that you were planning to do, but don’t have the time to do any longer. Such as taking care of your little sister, your little brother, and your wife. Don’t worry, now that you are gone, I will do everything in my power to help you protect and nurture them.

Finally, since you took off without giving me the time to say so, let me just say thank you for being there for me, Josh.

October 9, 2009 8:03 PM