In Loving Memory of Hoi Yuan Liang 
I remember the first time I laid my eyes on him. It was freshmen year and he was standing all by himself. He seemed to be the shy and quiet type; the opposite of me. I didn't really know him and never got the chance to talk to him. I was a freshman then and I didn't really care. I just tried to live out my freshmen year as normal as possible. A year passed and sophomore year arrived. I remember walking into my geometry class with Holly. That was the same class where Holly and I met Vanessa, the third rice sister. I remember sitting down next to Holly, looking around the room, and spotting him. I knew right then and there that he was gonna affect my life one way or the other. I've always been type that believes that everything happens for a reason. I started talking to him and he became my friend. I remember one time, Hoi Yuan was walking me to class and this Vietnamese guy started bothering me. I asked Hoi Yuan to punch him. He did and threw the guy onto the ground. That was when he became my bodyguard.
Sophomore year passed and we were placed together in Algebra 3-4H. We talked a lot more during junior year. I remember one day, Cam Linh, Xuankieu, Vanessa, and I were stuck with no ride. We had to do finish up on our Roller Coaster project to do in Physics so we were carrying around all our materials ("Rice Rocket" was the name of our roller coaster. We got an A on it). I really didn't feel like carrying all that heavy material to Xuankieu's house and plus, we needed to stop of at Home Depot for some supplies. I asked him for a ride. Not only did he take us to Home Depot and back to Xuankieu's house, he had to go back a second time to her house to drop of our project that we forgot about in the trunk of his car. To thank him for his time and generosity, Vanessa and I treated him for breakfast one day at Denny's. He said he'll take Vanessa and me to Red Lobster. That is one dinner I'd always want; just to be able to be with him again. Afterward, we had a choice to go to school or go somewhere else to hang out. None of us wanted to go to school so early so we got Hoi Yuan to take us to the park. We ran around and felt like a little kid again. School was getting to us so we needed that carefree moment. On the way out of the parking lot at the park, Vanessa hit her head on the top of the car because Hoi Yuan was speeding over speed bumps. That cracked me up. But being the nice guy that he was, he slowed down for every speed bump for Vanessa. On his 18th birthday, March 29, 2002, Hoi Yuan Liang was announced officially as our (The Three Rice Sisters) Rice brother. Rice Brother 1... the first Rice Brother ever! Six days later, on my birthday, he gave me a card with a jade Buddha attached to it. I was touched. That Buddha is the only thing I have left the remember him by. He said the Buddha reminded him of me because I am always smiling. I think the Buddha is him because he always watched out for me.
Although he was my Rice Brother, my friend, my bodyguard, I never told him that what he meant to me and that I'm happy to have met him. I never hugged him. Occasionally, I'd wrap an arm around his shoulder but I never really hugged him. I don't know why. The first time I had heard of his death was at work, April 25. Maria, the bosses wife, had told me that someone she knows from my school had died. She described the him as a Chinese guy, kind of chubby, around my height, and 18 years old who was the only child in his family. I thought it might of been Hoi Yuan but I didn't want to believe it. Sad part is, his sister had died in China...that's how he became the "only child." After she had told me that, I swear the sky had gotten darker. I didn't see him at school that day. On the car ride home from work was when I really started thinking about it. As tear filled my eyes, the rain started dropping. "It can't be him." I brushed it off. I told Holly about it online, I had to talk to someone about it. Holly and I said that if we saw him the next day at school, we would just hug him and tell him how much he means to us.
He wasn't at school. His death was spread throughout the school by the teachers and fellow classmates. He had accidentally hit his head on the bottom of a swimming pool, lost conscience, and had drown. I remember when Mrs. Kaiser had told me at 8:30 A.M. on April 26, 2002. I went hysterical. Vanessa was right next to me and was like, "It is him, it really is him." After she had confirmed his death, I ran to my first hour Englsih class, with tears streaming down my face, and screamed over at Holly, "It was Hoi Yuan." I didn't get to say good bye. I didn't even go to his funeral. Why? ...I don't know.
One thing that sticks to my mind is how I last saw him. Earlier that day, on April 24, 2002, we had walked together out into the parking lot. I had averted my attention to Cam Linh, who was walking with us, and he left my side. Usually, I would walk him to his car and say farewell to him. But that day, he just left my side and walked off all by himself. I remember watching him slowly getting into his car. I didn't say goodbye. I took life for granted and thought I would be able to make it up the next day.
October 20, 2002
10:00 AM, Holly is seen picking me up from my house. We then headed over to Fry's Food Market. The two oldest, out of three, Rice Sisters are then seen in the flower center. I looked over at Holly and asked her what bouquet to get. After about 15 minutes, we decided that we'll piece together a little flower arrangement. We picked up some Baby's Breath, a white, a peach, and a pinkish-purple Carnation. After about six months, we are finally going to visit our beloved Rice Brother.
We arrived at Greenwood Memorial Lawn about 10-15 minutes later. Neither of us had attended the funeral so we didn't know where to look for him. The only information I knew about the location of his grave was that it was near a bend in the road and located with other Chinese people. We looked everywhere. We must of walked around for at least 45 minutes. I was starting to get discourage. "Hoi Yuan, if you can hear me, give me a sign to where you are." I said outload while looking around for some sort of a sign. I was half expecting a bird to shoot out into the air and half expecting nothing. A few steps down the road, Holly and I spotted three Asian people huddled over at a tombstone. The scent of incense was in the air. As we drew closer, we saw that all the tombstones had Chinese names on it. Holly and I walked around that area. We were looking for "Hoi Yuan Liang" to be printed upon a tombstone in big letters. We didn't find one. We both became frustrated and started to walk away. All of I sudden, I spot "Liang" on the back of a stone. Holly and I walked to the front of it and there it was...our Rice Brother's tombstone, in lot 24.
We didn't know what to say. I bent down, placed the flowers infront of his tomb, and brushed away the dirt. Neither of us knew what to say. We reminced about Hoi Yuan for about 15 minutes and said our goodbyes to him. I finally got to say goodbye.
I have only two advice for all that is reading this:
1. Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know.
2. Don't cry because it's over; smile because of what you had.
And memories were a lane
We would walk right up to Heaven
And bring you back again.
No farewell words were spoken
No time to say goodbye
You were gone before we knew it
And only God knows why.
Our hearts still ache in sadness
And secret tears still flow
What it means to lose you
No one can ever know
But now we know you want us
To mourn for you no more:
To remember all the happy times,
Life still has much more in store
Since you'll never be forgotten
We pledge to you today
A hallowed place within our hearts
Is where you'll always stay.
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