She met her match in Hao.

I met Hao as the new guy my dear childhood friend had started dating. It was an interesting start for the relationship and absolutely worth the drama. God, he was her match. Their humor, their honesty, their generosity. They wanted the same things and had such fun together—the laughter and jokes never stopped.

They traveled well and had cultures to share with each other. Honestly, they were my bourgeois friends lol. We’d go to nice restaurants and Hao would generously take the entire bill, my mouth open in shock (why didn’t I order another cocktail! Grrr). Gosh! And they actually had a house with matching furniture. Not some apartment full of furniture off the street. Ha and they bought a purebred dog and a cat almost on a whim! From a pet store! Who does that?!

I was just the hippie friend occasionally dropping down from San Francisco. I just loved Hao—so down to earth and real through and through. Sometimes a little too real. Like no filter real. Not in a rude way—but honest and like—we’d never say that in SF. When we met up in San Francisco, I had a two-month old, and they were in the midst of finding out news if they were going to become parents or not, anxiously waiting for the phone call. Hao gushed over my newborn and my not-so-smiley newborn LOVED Hao. I feel so blessed to have been there for that special moment when Hao and Ana went into full on bliss mode and exploded with excitement and adoration for each other as they received the news from the call.

These two wanted to complete their love with babies more than anything. Hao was just meant to be a family man. He loved it. He was content and fulfilled. He literally did not need anything else but his wife and beautiful children sitting around him in their home they built for themselves. I miss him. I feel like he was happy. He left us way too soon, but he lived well and full and that’s a lot.