43 years and counting

My life long friend Chaiyutha Lertpachin passed away suddenly a few days ago in Bangkok. He was Thai and lived most all his life there. We were roommates in Greeley Colorado in 1973 and although our later homes were thousands of miles away we remained close. There are certain people that one meets in life that forever change the trajectory of the life yet to be led. For sure Chai was one such individual for me and my family. It was thanks to Chai and his wife Elaine that I met Betty Lee of Taiwan which enabled us to lead the life we have; including raising 3 of our own. Here is a collection of photos with some captions as to the time and place which are meant to bring some small comfort as time continues to unfold.

This picture is from the fall of 1973 with house mates Dr.'s Chen, Ying-hau and Sheu, Tian-way. That is Ying-hau next to Chai and Sheu on the other edge of the sofa. The fella in the burgundy jacket-thinking that I must have taken his place in the house as never saw him again. Chen went on to head public education for all of Taiwan and Sheu became a department chair at his university.

September 1976, Chai stopped in Hawai`i where I moved to after Colorado and have lived since. We are holding up our fingers to total the number 27 as the pictures are taken on our shared birthdate when we both turned that age. I think that not long afterwards Chai and Elaine got married. She had been Betty's suitemate while in college at Tamsui during the same time that Chai and I shared a room at the Greeley house.

In 1978 visited Thailand for the first time. Also stopped off in Taiwan where Chai and Elaine had arranged for me to meet several people including Betty. Not long afterwards, Chai, Elaine, and Veena went to Taiwan for the wedding.

Over the ensuing years there were lots of other visits, including Monta and Veena's weddings, a 2002 trip when they were stationed in Beijing, and a week stay in Hawai`i on the Lertpachin's return home from 2 years in Scotland. Unfortunately that was the worse recorded week ever of stormy weather for the island. Most of the pictures that follow are from a 2015 trip with Taiwan classmates to the north of Thailand. Along the way a stop was made to visit students and alumni from Lampang University which Chai served after retiring as an executive for Shell Oil.

This last picture was taken on November 20,2015. It marked the close of the third trip we had taken to the north with Elaine and Chai. Awesome trips each one. Calm, kind, patient, intelligent, and of course extremely funny-what a presence Chai was! I learned so much from that man. Am extremely thankful that he was, and forever shall be, my friend.