My friend Cody passed away this past Sunday, January 23rd in an accident in Ecuador. This is for him.
It must have been back in November when I first saw Cody Hankerd. I saw a tall blonde guy sitting at the fountain in the middle of the UEES campus, and I thought… hmmm. Definitely not Ecuadorean, but I have no idea who this is. I was excited that there were more international students though. I ended up meeting him not long after at a salsa class on campus. We went through the “hey nice to meet you where are from” etc, but didn’t talk much beyond that. A few nights after, I saw him and his friend Ramon, also a new international student, playing basketball. I was pumped because Ecuadoreans are all about fútbol, and not so much básquet. I asked Cody the next day how often they played, and if I could join. Being the gentleman that he is, it was no problem. From then on we met up a few nights every week for my last month to play. I brought my friend Ana Belen with me, and Cody and Ana ended up hitting it off pretty well. The three of us would spend the beautiful warm evenings after class playing out on the court. Some nights others would join; Juan, Ramon, Juanki, Victoria, Marcos, and even random people who wanted to play. Some nights it was just Ana, Cody and I, and a few times just Cody and I. We would talk about life back home, or what he could look forward to for his next months in Ecuador. I would give him some advice about Ecuador and when Ana was there she would help him with his Spanish. He didn’t know very much but he learned so quickly. Cody was a firefighter back in California, and got a scholarship of sorts to come study Spanish, which would in turn help him on the force. He would talk about his brother, who left for Afghanistan in December, and how proud he is of him. How hard it was not being there when he left. And of course being me I talked plenty, and he was a willing listener. I wish I had had more time down there, but I went home right before Christmas. We tried coordinating meeting up besides for basketball, but it never ended up working out. Our time together was spent on the courts. Those evenings were some of my favorites, so relaxing. From the month I had with Cody, I figured out that he was a really good guy. Trustworthy, motivated, patient, and loving his life in Ecuador. My heart goes out to his brother Sean, and his family.
I know for a fact that Cody wanted to be here in Ecuador really bad, he liked it here...I also wish he was still here with us. I remember the laughs we had at the dancing class (I told him: Cody you need to losen up! move those hips! shake them!) and he just laughed hard at me saying: no way! I just can't do that and kept laughing, but he did try (knowing Cody...probably just because that would get him some girls and also just to have a good time and a good laugh)... or every time I saw him in campus and stocked him and Ramon hehe to ask them to come to our field trips or CEI meetings and cultural seminars and I know I was a pain for them because they had to invent a nice excuse to say NAH, WE DONT REALLY WANT TO GO (because that is boring...) hahaha, I can say that I always saw him with friends, surrounded by people, ...God bless Cody, to me he is one more angel in heaven and some day I will see him again, that is the only thing that comforts me at the moment. Cody will be in my heart always as all and each one of you (international students) are. Always remember to have fun, enjoy but above all, like I always tell you, be safe. Love you all
ReplyDeleteI remember him telling me he thought he was supposed to go to our cultural seminar meetings but not going haaha. I know, salsa dancing wasn't really his thing... not really a hip shaker. More of a sports guy. He will always be in my heart as well. He had texted me my last night saying how good it was getting to know me. He was one of the few if only who did that. I miss him. Love you too Andrea. I am trying to come back in a year, and I will see you then. <3
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