I would like to thank you for keeping me and making me number one. I never regretted staying in Uno because I spent some of the best times of my life in the school, especially with my classmates and working companions in the senior year. Those fleeting months are most memorable.

I used to say "when silence speaks, words are in excess" in class. When you passed away and I came to the wake in the school gym that rainy night, however, I could no longer find the usual resonance. There was only the endless silence to be. I could only wish for the continuation of the understanding between us. I looked at you lying there so peaceful; albeit I knew, if you were present during that time, you would be mindful of the people gathering downstage, being ever so keen and dedicated to your role as a father of the school. That night, I felt that my second father had passed away.

I remember the time when you showed me the painting of your retirement home in the U.S. I doubt if you ever got to live in it and enjoyed a retirement, because you were still in school even in death.

Today, I am still reaping the fruits of the decisions we both made that fateful afternoon many, many years ago. My being able to write this letter is one of them.

I am proud to keep you in my memory.

I miss you.


Your student,
Johnson
August 2003