Thread: Important Departed People...Share your Stories!

I had a dear friend named Anoop Kohli who I knew from when we were adolescents in the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Army Cadet Corps. He was eventually the commanding officer and I his second in command. We were also roommates after that and remained the closest of friends for many years.

In 2000 while working as an English teacher in South Korea he suffered his first heart attack and was forced to live under the care of his mother who, to put it mildly, was always batty. She wouldn't let any of his friends visit him while he lived near me. Ironically, just as he was getting back on his feet he found his mother dead one morning and was forced to move to Vancouver to live with his brother with whom he never really got along. In the fall of 2001 the wife and I were planning to move to Vancouver (the first time) and I was looking forward to seeing him again for the first time in a few years, but when I called him to make arrangements he told me he was going back to Korea and would leave Canada, just a few days before I would arrive in Vancouver. Three months later, in February of 2002 he suffered his second fatal heart attack.

To say that we were friends is an understatement. Were were fast friends at least, weathering personal tribulations together as close brothers would. I knew I could count on him to be there for me and nothing could stop me from supporting him either. I loved him deeply when he was alive and miss him dearly still in his absence. He was always a gentleman and respectful of others. He was also the merriest jester I have ever known whose laughter was easy to bubble to the surface and quite infectious and a man who enjoyed life's pleasures to their fullest. I wish fate could have given us more time together. Some of us gather annually to raise a glass to his memory and honour the years of friendship which he shared with us

He is shown here in a rare moment of seriousness when we both lived in Montréal.



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