Jordan K. West

Jordan was my only friend growing up until your family moved in the 5th grade. We had the same birthday, shoe size, both were obsessed with digimon, foot races, drawing and I can't remember a moment I wasn't sitting next to him in a class or on a blacktop enjoying each other's company at Ivy Leaf. That first year without him was hard to say the least and it's an all too familiar feeling learning about his passing after trying to look him up for years.

We only hung out once outside of school, but I remember it like it was yesterday. As strange as it sounds, I truly owe who I am today to that first friendship and it makes me happy to see I wasn't the only one affected by his presence. This is a late message, but I mean all of it. People have always heard me rant about him and his influence. To this day, I base my friendships on what it felt like to have him as one. As a graphic designer/programmer in advertising now, all I think about are the days we'd spend drawing intricate laptop layouts on papers in our cubbies dreaming of our futures and, seeing he studied marketing, it seems like we've always been on the same page.

Thank you for raising such a beautiful soul. And, Jordan, thank you for being my friend.