What Arthur Meant to Me
Today I come before you to tell you what Arthur meant to me. I met Arthur back in Jr. High when everybody was in this Magic the Gathering craze and I think that's how a lot of our friends came together. But it wasn't till High School when Arthur and I got a little closer. I can't recall exactly how or why we became better friends and more than just an opponent in a card game. Maybe it was the anime and comics we loved watching and reading or maybe the same group of friends just stuck together and the bond was made then. But one thing I'm sure of is that ever since I knew of Arthur's talents in drawing I've admired him ever since. It was such an honor and pleasure to be able to flip through his sketch book and seeing everything he could do with a pencil and blank piece of paper. I've loved drawing ever since I watched my first Disney movie when I was young. And what Art could do was everything that I wanted to be able to do. But it doesn't stop there.
During High School, among our friends, I think it was always Art and I who had a love for drawing and graphics. We discovered the program Photoshop and spent hours creating digital art works on it. Then we started to learn about 3D animation on a program called 3dmax. But through it all Arthur was always better than me and I would admire his skills so much that I would go to him for inspiration or advice. Another hobby we all had in High School was computers, oh how we loved our computers even till this day. And of course spending countless hours on it we had to learn how to build a computer, fix a computer, and tackle any problems that came along with installing new hardware or software. And of course when we couldn't figure out a problem and started to pull our own hair in frustration, we call Arthur. Arthur would know what to do. Arthur could save me from this wretched frustration. And although it was true that Arthur knew the most about troubleshooting he didn't always have the answer. But on those special occasions he would calm me down and start to figure out the problem with me. If he couldn't do it over the phone he would have no problem coming down to my place to work on it together. Sometimes we would even go hours past midnight just so we could figure out the problem. And going to bed that night each of us knew that it was a night well spent because we solved it.
After high school we all went our separate ways, pursuing our own dreams. For some of us we did what we wanted to do and for the rest of us we did what we had to do. And I can say not every one of our plans went according to. I stayed in Upland and eventually Arthur found his way back here too. But still, we all had our own paths to walk so it wasn't like we we're next door buddies after he came back to Upland. But nonetheless we all still got together on occasions and would go out and watch a movie or have dinner. He even introduced me to Dragon Boating which I enjoyed one summer. And even though the experience was fun the only reason I agreed to get on that boat was because Art was there. It was the same reason why I agreed to go on their crazy bike ride from Upland to the beach, which was nearly a 60 mile trip. It was also then I found out that Arthur was in the Boy Scouts when he was younger. Boy Scouts I joined but never got to continue after I moved to Upland. Arthur was also a musician having studied violin and even played in an orchestra. He finished college with a degree in Animation and even got to intern at Cartoon Networks. He got to travel the world and visit places like France, Canada, Indonesia, and Hawaii. Lastly, he has a huge loving family and even acquired a small army of friends that all loved him so much. Arthur had so many talents and accomplished so much in his lifetime that I know for the rest of my life he will continue to inspire me and give me advice.
I had mentioned earlier that of all our friends I felt most in common with Art. It was our interests that we bonded on and it is my admiration for him that I will continue to share a bond with him for the rest of my life. For what he has accomplished in his lifetime I will spend the remainder of mine trying to even come close.
Excerpts from my journal
"It was only a few weeks ago I saw him come visit me at work and we were all laughing and chatting just like back when we were in high school. I could hear his voice, see his face, and recall every memory of him and in every one of those memories he was always smiling. I have never known him to be angry; he was always calm and cool. Trustworthy, dependable, easy going, that was the Arthur I knew and it pains me to know that that is the Arthur we all have lost. His families, his friends, we all miss him so much."
Kevin Chiang
Met Art in Jr. High – Became good friends during High School
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