I’ve been looking through old photos the past few weeks and found this old video we did for Benson before his study abroad semester in Italy.

P.S. that video of us screaming at the Luge in Singapore - it’s honestly not that fast and scary, but we wanted to pretend it was 😅 I don’t remember whose idea it was to film this video but it was probably Benson’s 😂

Benson and I were freshman suitemates at USC, where we bonded while skateboarding at the parking garage late at night and goofing around the dorms. We became closer after I graduated, when I was so lucky he chose to defer his fifth year at USC and stay in NYC right as I moved there for my first job. He had only been there two months longer than me but took me to so many places and seemed to know so many things to do every weekend!

A lot of the posts here have resonated with me— I didn’t fully appreciate how many other lives he was touching while also brightening mine. I remember many epic long walks and bike rides, including one to the cloisters where we barely arrived before they closed. He even reached out to friends of his to borrow a bike for me. I still carry a tanner goods wallet I bought with him at a random popup in soho. I always was and will continue to be so proud to be Benson’s friend. 

One of my favorite memories with Benson was the time we decided to randomly grab dinner in DUMBO. The original plan was to go to a brick oven pizza spot. I forget the name, but I remember it being a well-known place. We were super excited to try it.

When we got there, however, the host told us that just minutes before we arrived, their brick oven had “collapsed”. We didn’t exactly know what that meant, but it meant we weren’t having pizza. The host said it almost never happens and that our timing couldn’t have been worse. Our luck felt comically bad. Benson and I thought it was hilarious.

So instead, we walked to a nearby Italian restaurant and ordered some pasta. At the end of the meal, Benson reached for the napkin in his lap to wipe his mouth one last time. Only it wasn’t his napkin. It was the tablecloth. Turns out, for the entire dinner, Benson had been using the white tablecloth to periodically wipe the red pasta sauce from his mouth. LOL. The restaurant staff must have been so confused. We both started laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe.

The next day, my coworkers probably thought I’d lost it. My mind kept going back to that dinner, and I was giggling uncontrollably to myself the whole day. I’m laughing right now as I write this. Thanks B, even now you’re still bringing me laughter.