Sorry, I don’t remember the year you came to our elementary school. I think it was in junior high–seventh or eighth grade. Or was it beforehand? Fifth or sixth. It was so long ago. Whichever year you came as a newcomer, I remember feeling threatened because you were smart and especially good at math.
It’s all very hazy. Maybe you remember how we became friends. I don’t know the details except that we were all sorta friends. Thirty kids in a single class, going through first through eighth grade together at St. Joseph Elementary School. Population 250 for the entire school. God, it seems so long ago!
You became friends with Conrado. Or was it the other way around? Conrado became friends with you. And I was friends with Conrado. So naturally we became friends—good friends, almost like siblings. I don’t know why I’ve always gotten along better with boys. Too many hurt feelings and drama with the girls.
Remember all the afternoons we would hang out at Conrado’s house? After I got the phone call (“Come over!”), I’d race my blue Huffy bike with the banana seat. I didn’t want another minute to go by where you guys were hanging out without me. And as soon as I arrived, I’d ask, “Hey Conrado, can I have some ice-cream?” Because his freezer always had pints and half-gallons of a various assortment of flavors. Oh, we were all so skinny then. Us three Asian kids, gulping down bowls of ice-cream.
When Conrado came to visit me many months ago, he asked, “Hey Catch, do you have any ice-cream?” And my heart just melted from the nostalgia.
Different from when my heart jumped with your comment today.
“Hi Cathy Gacad,
I guess I’m rather lucky to come across your site before you shut it down. It was nice to read that you are well and happy and to piece together a bit of your life since I last saw you. Thinking of you in New York.”
Well Andrew Nguyen, I am thrilled to see you here in cyberspace. Please, please email me: cgacad@chicagogsb.edu. I get out to NYC often. In fact, I’m planning on being there within the next month or so. I can’t think of anyone else from my past who I would love to see more. Hope you are living the life that I always wanted to lead in New York. Let’s get together soon.
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