Cesseley Hoang
When I first met Diana, it was back at Living Spaces, fresh of a lay-off at my prior company. I was standoffish, as a result -- I wasn't there to make friends and I wasn't interested in giving any of my new coworkers a chance at getting close.
Yet, Diana persisted. She was always the one to approach me with snacks and fake meetings to just yap about nothing and everything. She was the one who tried to bring me into the fold in spite my cynicism, and she was the one that really took me under her wing for the simple reason that I was younger than her and I looked like someone who should be fed.
I would soon find that she was like this by her very nature.
She was kind and generous to a fault, the type to make sure everyone was taken care of. I'd also find that she was very, very good at making friends because she was a lot of fun, a total baddie who knew how to have a good time. She was the one that showed me that a few crazy decisions here and there wasn't going to hurt me... that it was okay to be a little irresponsible here and there to really make life worth living. I'll never forget all the late night drinks we'd have, the bad reality shows, the hit-or-miss Tuesday movie nights with Pizza Hut on the couch right after. The way she convinced me to take the plunge and trade in my Civic for a Miata, and the lengths she took to make sure I got a good deal out of it.
All this to say that she was an amazing person, the kind of friend you make maybe once in a lifetime.
Though she is gone now, I'll always have a piece of her with me -- when I pull the roof down of my car, when I steal her drink order... when I just let life be what it could be, letting the unimportant things go.
I'll be missing you lots, Sis.
Ces/Baby Sis