Remembering Amin – Tribute by Dan Thompsen

Dan, a good friend of Amin since kindergarten, shared the following at his memorial on Sunday night.

Amin was a great friend to many people. He was hilarious. He was humble. He was generous and never asked for anything in return. Most of all, he was true to his faith, and he only sought to honor his family.

Of all of our friends, I don’t think anyone was as influential as him. To this day, people say that when we get together we all talk like Amin. There isn’t a get together that happens without someone referencing something funny Amin said or did. He’s the source of 1000 inside jokes. Amin brought endless joy to our lives that will live on through us. We have a very tight knit group of friends who I’ve always considered to be my brothers and sisters. Amin was at the center of this group. I don’t think I’ll ever forget his distinct and infectious laugh.

As a natural leader, Amin was someone I constantly sought approval from. At tough times in my life, I often wished that Amin was there to show me the way, or make me laugh.

I don’t want to take too much of your time, but I’d like to share with you a few short stories that I think exemplify Amin and his life with us.

I met Amin in Mrs Duckworth’s Kindergarten class, and his warmth and great sense of humor made us fast friends. As one of my very first friends, his was the first house I went to after school. That day we were playing with legos or gi joes or something in his room, when we heard the intro song to “The Monkees” tv show. We both looked at each other and yelled at the same time “THE MONKEES!!!” and ran in the other room to watch. I think we left after the intro, because that was the best part of the show anyway:)

In elementary school between days in Ms Beebe and Ms Bonoldi’s classes, we spent our time playing sports, going on camping trips with friends, and eating Little Caesar’s pizza at Justin Bird’s sleep overs. Amin loved playing pranks and never shied away from a little mischief. He would often accompany Justin on tips downstairs to draw on his poor brother’s face while he slept. He was also the first one to tell me about and try the hand-in-hot-water trick while someone is sleeping.

Amin was always old for his age. In middle school he grew before everyone, and I’m pretty sure he started shaving in the 6th grade. He was really well liked at Olympus, as people were attracted to his great sense of humor and style (he was popular with the girls at school). James and I would walk home from school with Amin nearly everyday, that’s where is influence started to grow in our lives. For better or worse. One day, he persuaded James and I that it would be a good idea to play “Road Rash” and jump on each others bikes on the side of Northeast 30th. We all had to walk our broken bikes home from there, but like most memories involving Amin’s ideas, I’ll always look back at that fondly, and laugh.

Even though he was a very kind person, he also was very physically and mentally tough. A friend of ours who lives in Korea, Daniel Lee shared this great story with me a couple of weeks ago which really embodies this:

“Back in I believe 6th grade, he and I kinda got into it. I was learning Tae Kwon Do at the time, and I thought I was pretty tough. So I stepped up to him in the band room and I started giving him my best kicks. Afterwards, he stood there and laughed and asked me to stop ‘horsing around.’ Then I played it off like I was playing too when in reality I was hitting him as hard as I could. He was able to completely disarm me with just his words”

In High School, you could get the sense that Amin was focusing on something more substantial in his future. He didn’t get bogged down in the regular trappings of high school, but he did spend a lot of time with his friends. My favorite part of the day was lunch when we all were able to pack in someone’s car and head to Wendy’s or Uwajimaya and catchup with each other. Usually we were speeding around in Amin’s car listening to some bad techno music.

As he was getting more focused on school, he also started to hone his skills with arguing. One of my favorite memories of Amin is in Mr. Rubio’s class where after our essays were returned, Amin would get up in the middle of the class and argue with the teacher about his grade. One time he even got up to argue when Mr. Rubio gave him a 98% on his paper. Mr. Rubio had these words to say when he heard of Amin’s unfortunate passing:

“Amin was definitely one of my favorites, and even his constant arguing that you mentioned, was a usual highlight of my day.  Given his power to creatively advocate, I’m not surprised he became a lawyer—bet he was a great one.  Wow, I am truly saddened by his loss.  Though I hadn’t spoken to him since the old days, his face, voice, and great sense of humor came to me right away.  Please give my condolences to his family, and to you and other friends as well.“

Amin was always very athletic. In high school he participated in Football and the Pole Vault on the Track and Field team. Several people have reminded me of this story which again exemplifies Amins toughness:

At Football practice, Amin’s favorite (and my least favorite) part were the hitting drills, where we’d practice tackling and hitting. It gave the bigger kids a chance to let out some aggression, and the smaller kids to experience some anxiety 🙂 Amin was always really good at tackling, and was a hard hitter. During one especially intense practice, the team and coaches were crowded around Amin and the drill he was participating in. As he got up from the drill and looked up at us with the bridge of his nose cut and bruised. Everyone’s jaw dropped and they were laughing. I distinctly remember him as he said “What?” with a mixture of a casual, confused, and cocky voice. It was then that our coach, a former NFL player said with astonishment, “Amin, you bent your facemask, and it’s below your chin!”

In college Amin became more focused and went on trips to New York to participate in the model UN with our friend Shawn. I was having a tough time for the first couple years at Western, and Amin and Shawn would often come to visit James and I for the weekend. I’m still grateful for the effort he took to be with us, and the good times we spent in Bellingham.

Amin was always honest and caring with his friends, especially if it meant making fun of them. Whether it was him giving me a hard time about how I spent my student loan money (do you really think buying a digital camera is a good idea?), or him asking me when I planned on graduating every time I saw him, or never letting me live down the day I decided to get two dairy queen blizzards in one day. I know it was his way of showing me that he cared about where my life was going, and I loved every second of it.

Amin was a great guy to have on your side. A few years ago on a trip to Maui, the flight Amin and I were on was delayed until the following morning. Never one to be easily deterred, he spent 30 minutes arguing with the poor ticket agent and explaining to her that we were business associates that had an important meeting first thing the next morning back in Seattle. After that we were re-booked on another flight, but we were definitely flagged for security screening 🙂

He also had a very unique vocabulary, he seemed to get words and phrases stuck in his head that none of us had heard before. He was known to refer to such things as: Wafers, nibblers, twizzlers, burner laps, peasants, paupers, flushels, calling people “Big Guy”, being “Creative”, pulling jack moves, putting people in check, asking people to “give me my money”, feeling sorry for you, and asking you “Why would you do that?”

About a year and a half ago I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to China with my wife and her parents, and spend some time with Amin. He was a great and patient tour guide who took us to delicious meals and great sites. I’ll always remember the how at ease he seemed in his adopted home and the way he made grumpy old cab drivers laugh with his Chinese small talk.

One of the days we were there, my wife mentioned that a gallery in a far off corner of Beijing was showing her favorite designer. Without hesitation, he navigated us out to the district where the show was and got us to the front door. When we arrived, we found out that the gallery was closed for a private event. Amin, ever the negotiator, explained that we had flown to Beijing just for this show and that we had to leave tomorrow. With his power of persuasion, we were allowed in while others were turned away. I know it definitely made Jeannette’s trip.

Later that day, we were in a market and he was negotiating with a vendor on our behalf for a few minutes. He was fighting for what was probably the difference between two and three dollars for a couple of hats. After he got what he felt was a fair price, he said something in Chinese to the vendor, after which she busted out in laughter. On the way out, Jeannette and I asked him what he said to her, and in perfect Amin dry-deadpan, he said “I told her not to rip me off next time”

Amin, we love you more than we could ever tell you, and one way or another, you’ll always be with us

Thank you