I was fortunate enough to have met Chris in 2011 during our freshmen year at CSUEB as we lived in the same dorm building. We didn't develop a friendship until our sophomore year where we moved into the building across the street, this time living on the same floor. Sophomore year was one of the roughest years for me, and I remember how stressed out and worried he was at that time too. We became good friends and confided in each other, laughed with one another and gave each other encouragement when we needed it. Chris was nonjudgmental, honest, & supportive and so of course I knew he was a sincere & genuine friend. He was one of my closest friends in such a trying time in my life. I remember I even baked him a cake for his birthday in 2013, chocolate nutella w/nerds for his initial! (photo attached) He was surprised to get a birthday cake, but I could see how much he appreciated it, knowing that I didn't want anything from him in return except for his friendship. We had many late night conversations about life, about his family, about our dating lives, about almost any/everything. He even helped me get through one of the hardest breakups I had to endure and encouraged me to start dating again.
Living in the dorms created these special bonds, and I am so grateful to have met him in this life time. Hearing about this incident brought back so many memories it was almost overwhelming. We had the friendship where we picked up wherever we left off, and never gave each other a hard time about not keeping in touch. To Chris's Family, I hope that you may grieve in peace, I pray that you are able to get through this difficult time amidst all else that is going on. Whenever we had our late night conversations, Chris always talked so fondly of his Mom, he loved her very much. I met Chris almost 9 years ago but as Maya Angelou says, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.".
Thank you for the friendship and memories, R.I.P. my friend.
-Marilyn