Many of you know that Lawrence Chen helped update this UYD forum to the latest software and imported all of Todd's backup files to keep most of our rich history in tack. That was no easy task and Lawrence had to learn about phbBB software to make the fix. Some of you know that Lawrence was my roommate for most of 2020 and 2021. Well, he is moving out today with our other roommate, Ariel to the San Francisco Bay Area. Ariel is completing her last year of grad school and Lawrence is moving up with her to support her financially, socially, and emotionally.
I wrote a quick gratitude post about them on Facebook. I want to share it with you all too.
Daily Gratitude for Ariel Edmond and Lawrence Chen. They moved in last summer during the height of safety restrictions. We couldn’t ask for better people to weather the storms Of 2020/21 together. Both Cheryl and I wrote them long gratitude letters but let me briefly recount just one small example of their goodness to our family.
On December 3 we were sitting around the dinner table together when I got a call from the hospital’s ER doctor. They told me my dad was there and if we had talked about end-of-life care.
I asked, “Is my dad’s brain still working?”
Yes.
“Then my dad told me to keep him alive.”
So you want us to put him on a ventilator?
“Yes.”
I asked when I could expect an update and they told me to call back in two hours. They called me back in an hour.
“His brain is gone. He is still alive because of the ventilator. But he has no brain activity and it won’t get better. I’m sorry.”
I didn’t have these conversations on speaker phone but the family, Ariel, and Lawrence could tell by my words and tone of voice what was happening. It is a strange situation to be in and what do you say?
I explained what had happened and that my dad was brain dead and I would drive to LA to pick up my sister so we could see him one more time before they took out the ventilator. I think we hugged but I can’t remember what was done or said.
I packed up and as I was about to leave, Ariel and Lawrence brought in ice cream from downtown Mission Ice Cream (about a 10-minute drive) for the kids, Cheryl, and me. A comfort gift for the family as we moved into this loss and grief.
They attended the virtual funeral with us. They listened to me talk and process my dad’s death. They talked to Angela, Cody, and Cheryl about their memories of my dad.
In good times and bad times.
They have been true friends to Angela and Cody throughout this pandemic. When social isolation, anxiety, mental illness, rumination, and a ton of unexpected problems came up - Ariel and Lawrence were there. They didn’t judge Angela and Cody. They were patient. They did art and played games with them. They went on family bike rides on Christmas Day. They brought and cooked duck and family Mac n cheese for Thanksgiving. They biked with us to Carpinteria ebikes to ring in the new year. They went on a vacation with us to Morro Bay. We had a family dinner every Sunday. But we saw each other every day. We had serious conversations. We laughed a lot. They were the social connection for our family when we couldn’t see anyone else.
That’s the kind of friends Ariel and Lawrence are.
We will not forget this pandemic. But most of all, we won’t forget our time with Ariel and Lawrence.
Now they move on to a new adventure together. We are so excited for them. But we also will miss them.
Our pandemic roommates.
What a year.
What good friends.
That is why I’m grateful for Ariel and Lawrence.
- Ariel & Lawrence
- 232802171_10108968329906807_609759393058346446_n.jpg (42.57 KiB) Viewed 761 times
