The day that I have been dreading had arrived.

15th December, the date my cousin,

my childhood friend, Jacob departed this earth exactly three years ago. I am driving my
blue Honda Civic Type R to visit his graveyard at Sleepy Hallow Cemetery. It was a bright
and sunny morning. The sun shone brilliantly like a fireball in the clear, blue sky as the
white, fluffy clouds drifted across the sky. I would have appreciated the weather more if
it wasn’t for the fact that I can barely keep my emotions in check.
After driving for about an hour and a half, I parked my car outside the cemetery and
took Jacob’s favorite flower, white lilies that wrapped neatly by craft paper and tied in
the middle with a piece of string from my passenger seat. Gingerly, I walk through the
cemetery, dodging forgotten graves. On a few, candles had been lit and placed in
memory, whereas others had died out in the duration of the day. I breathed in the
earthy smell that must have probably associated with rain from the previous day.
Finally, I reached Jacob’s tombstone. There were grass shards sprouted over the top of
his tombstone and a little soil was scattered over. My fingers traced the craved letter on
his tombstone after cleaning the mess. Suddenly, my name was called by the person I
yearn to contact for the past three years.
Ares, my other cousin and childhood friend as well. Ares, Jacob and I used to do
everything together and we were pretty much inseparable growing up since as our
parents lived in the same neighborhood. Ares is the most easygoing and sociable among
the three of us. He tends to enjoy being part of a crowd and charismatic is something
easy for him accomplish. Jacob is more of a calm and consistent person. He is very
affectionate, diplomatic and peacemaker among us. On the other hand, there is me, the
melancholic. I tend to be more introvert, a perfectionist and have a sensitive nature.
Somehow, three of us manage to blend well together and balance each other out.
However, things went downhill when Jacob was diagnosed with cancer and would die in
two months as the saying goes all good things must come to an end. We spent the
remaining time together doing Jacob’s favorite activities such as playing video games,
walk in the park near to our houses and talk deep conversations.
After Jacob died, Ares and I drifted apart as his family moved out of the neighborhood
because his father got a new job in the next town. I met Ares lastly at Jacob’s funeral.
Jacob was glue to our friendship. We all have our small issues with each other, but we
were able to put them aside when he was alive to make him happy. I cannot bring
myself to contact him as there were a lot of memories we shared together with Jacob
and it was hard to see him without thinking about Jacob. I think that’s the reason why
Ares never contact me as well.
 Which is why it’s a surprise for me to see Ares here today. We stare at each other
for a few minutes. It was Ares, who decided to break the silence. ‘It’s been a long time
Ryder’ he said. ‘Yes, it’s has’. Ares place white lilies he brought together with him on top
of Jacob’s tombstone. Later, we sat in front of Jacob’s tombstone and pay him respect. I
thought it would be awkward to see Ares all of a sudden, but fortunately it was not. The
conversation flowed easily. We talk about how our life had been and what we were up
to in the future. We also talk about the funny memories we had with Jacob. On that
occasion, I regret not keeping in touch with my best friend, Ares. I thought Jacob was a
sad memory that we should not remember, but it was not. Jacob was a someone who
may gone from our sight but not never gone from our hearts. As the sky slows darkened
and the sun sets, we decided to call it a day, but promised to keep in touch and visit
Jacob frequently. As I was driving back home, I remembered the conversation I had with
Ares about our funny memories of pranking our neighbor on Halloween with Jacob. My
lips twitch upwards involuntarily. One thing is for certain is that we have never laughed
so much in our lives.