Please join in the comments and share a memory of Sha-lou.
Here is one to kick start things off. At the end of the spring semester freshman year, we were all going a little stir crazy. I don’t know which one of us had the idea but it was pure genius. Ok maybe not genius, but it sure was a challenge: tennis in the 3E hall. Noyes being curved and all, it was impossible to hit it back to the other person without bouncing it off the walls. We got progressively further and further away and it didn’t take long before we couldn’t see each other , but I could still hear Sha-lou doing a mock tennis grunt: aaah-eeeh. Someone, I can’t remember who, heard the balls bouncing opened up their door and came out, almost to be hit by a flying ball. I swear I hit the walls almost as much as I hit the blall. My sides hurt from laugher by the time we were done.
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July 30, 2007 at 7:45 am
Kirby Gargantiel
I knew Sha-lou from our time in Nyack and Valley Cottage. First of all let me say my condolences and prayers go out to his family and friends. You will all be in my thoughts.
Second, I feel that there are no words I can say that do Sha-lou justice. He was one of the brightest and warmest people I’ve ever met. Always with a smile and kind word, it was hard not to like him. I remember back in high school when Sha-lou and I used to practice speaking Tagalog (Filipino) together. It was nice sharing our cultural connection and it served as a constant reminder of who I am and where I came from. And for that, I thank you Sha-lou. You will be missed.
Last of all, I will be sure to forward the link to this page to everyone I know who knew Sha-lou. I’m sure they too will have fond memories of him.
- Kirby Gargantiel
July 30, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Mr. Michael Giammarino
July 30th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
It is with great sadness that I learned of Sha-lou’s passing only 15 minutes ago. I was Sha-lou’s Spanish teacher in both 10th and 11th grade. Not only was he an excellent student, who always got a 100 on every test ( or argued over the points on the tests that he didn’t) and had a mind like a sponge. I remember his impeccable handwriting, and how he always corrected me if I left the hypen out of his name. That was Sha-lou. Eventually I just started calling him Shamu!! That was the sense of humor we both shared.
Sha-lou knew me only too well. In the class plays at Nyack High School, he played me. His portrayal was spot on; he had my mannerisms, humor, quirks, and clothing done to a T. I used to call him my “Mini me.” I often wondered if one day he would follow in my footsteps and become a teacher. And today I found out that he indeed did, and surely inspired many others in the process.
I enjoyed many moments during rehearsals for the class play and other junior class activities with Shal-lou. He was always reliable and helpful and always made everyone laugh.
The last time I saw Sha-lou was in 1999 when he visited me during his senior year. I am proud to see all that he has accomplished and the legacy he leaves behind in the students and friends whose lives he touched. He will be deeply missed, but never forgotten.
I accompany his friends and family at this difficult time in their sadness.
July 31, 2007 at 9:50 am
From Sha-lou’s Teacher « In Memory of Sha-lou Soledad Biray
[...] July 31st, 2007 in Uncategorized Sha-lou’s high school teacher Mr. Michael Giammarino left this comment last night on Memories. It is with great sadness that I learned of Sha-lou’s passing only 15 [...]
August 6, 2007 at 9:44 am
Viviann
I met Sha-lou freshman year of college and we remained friends through out our senior year. Sha-lou had a bubbly, out going personality from day one, and remained that way. He would be-friend anyone, and had a talent for making people feel welcomed. I enjoyed his quirky love for Boy Bands, Jamie Oliver, Amierican Idol, among other things. He took joy in being silly for the heck of it and loved laughing. If you knew Sha-lou, you also knew that you could never forget him. I will miss him so much.
August 7, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Lian Soledad (Tita Ofel to Sha-lou)
First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you, Julia, for creating a website in memory of our beloved Sha-lou. I’m one of his four aunts (sisters of his mom) and Sha-lou was our very first nephew. So there were no words to describe the sadness and loss I am feeling right now. Reading heartwarming stories about him, somehow helps ease the burden. It is also amazing to find out that even though his life was short-lived, it was well spent and had inspired a lot of people he met.
Sha-lou, as a child was really smart, sweet, fun loving, full of energy and very friendly. He was also very responsible especially when it comes to his brother. It was in his nature to always do the right thing. Even if he said no to a request, he would always feel guilty about it and would end up doing what you asked him. He grew up to be a concerned person who did little things, he thought would make a difference in the world. He was the one who opened my eyes not to patronize establishments that do not have union or good benefits for their employees. As a teacher, he wanted to specialized in educating children with disabilities.
My fondest memory of him was when he and his brother spent their summer vacation in the Philippines in 1994. It was rainy season in our country at the time, but since it was summer in New York and they loved swimming so much, we spent a lot of times in the beach. We had so much fun riding the waves and playing in the sand coz we’re the only people in the beach. I could still remember the sound of his laughter everytime we reminisced those moments. My sweetest memory though, was when he baked me a chocolate cake with blueberries and cooked risotto for my birthday. I came home really tired and still coping up with the sudden passing of my sister (his favorite aunt) at that time. I was so touched when I saw him sweating from all the cooking and making sure that dinner will be served as soon as I arrived. His effort to make that day a happy one for me really put a smile on my face. It was indeed one of the most memorable birthdays I had. That cake was the best one I ever tasted and the risotto was really superb.
When he got sick, I was so impressed to meet some of his friends and witnessed the friendship they shared. I will never forget all of them and it has taught me to hold my friends closer. I miss my nephew so much. His smile, his loving ways, his every answer to any questions I asked him and our everyday story sharings trying to out-talk each other. My walking encyclopedia is gone and left a huge void in my life but knowing a lot of people cared, was truly comforting. Thank you all so much.
August 9, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Kristin Taylor
I haven’t seen Sha-lou since our graduation from Vassar four years ago. I had the honor of being in many psychology and education classes with him. Though not the closest of friends, we often caught up with each other on the sidewalk on the way to class or in line at the dining hall. I am struck now by the wholeness and strength of the impression with which he left me, the sum of relatively few encounters.
Vassar was a small campus. You knew most of the people in your class by sight. But Sha-lou, even as an intermittent acquaintance, radiated a very specific kind of warmth, an openhearted delight in life and company and circumstance that left you feeling simpler, younger, happier than you did five minutes before, when you thought you were alone on the sidewalk.
It is impossible for me to think about Sha-lou without picturing him smiling (usually at one of his own jokes). About two months ago I was sitting in a Starbucks when I thought I spotted him a table or two away. The resemblance between this stranger and Sha-lou was so strong that I let out an involuntary squeal, something akin to, “Wow! Is it really you?” The young gentleman looked up, rather confused, and smiled meekly. Disappointed, I apologized and retreated. Definitely not Sha-lou, I thought. Sha-lou always smiled with his teeth. It strikes me now that after four years of not seeing each other I would have felt completely comfortable approaching Sha-lou with unabashed delight. His joy invited joy.
I will leave the rest of the remembering to those who have concrete memories to share. But to those who miss him most, know that for every post on this website, for every mourner you know of and with whom you share your grief, there are countless other lives that Sha-lou touched with that smile and that heart. You will never hear from all of them because they extend beyond knowable limits into the world. I have confidence that each one of them would be as thrilled as I to set down a cup of coffee, look up and find Sha-lou sitting at the next table.
August 13, 2007 at 10:20 am
Lucie I.
*Sorry for the long delay. I’ve been away and only recently learned of Sha-Lou’s illness and passing.*
I probably haven’t had any contact with Sha-Lou since our days together at Nyack High School, but he is someone who I got to know fairly well in that time. Sha-Lou and I were in the class plays together, and I loved every moment of it (the writing, the late-night pizza deliveries, the rehearsing, the major upset to the student body when we beat the senior class…). I can still hear the crowd roar when Sha-Lou came onto the stage saying, “Hi, I’m Mr. G. I’m the bomb. Image is everything.” Just typing that line made me laugh out loud.
But my favorite all-time memory of Sha-Lou is much more understated and probably not very memorable to most. At my sixteenth birthday party, I sat on my porch opening the gifts that my friends brought. As I opened an endless array of trinkets and gift cards, I opened Sha-Lou’s gift: a big basket that closed with a latch. The others at the party were confused as to why Sha-Lou didn’t put anything in the basket, and poor Sha-Lou sat there, somewhat embarrassed, and said, “I can’t believe I gave her a basket.” I reassured him that it was a lovely gift and that I would find a good use for it. So here we are, all these years later, and I can’t tell you what anyone else gave me for my birthday that year except for Sha-Lou. I’m happy to report that his basket serves a very important purpose in my life: It holds all of my special cards and letters (ok, so I’m a tad sentimental). I actually just went through the basket to see what I had put in there over the years, and some of the things I saved made me laugh while others made me cry. It’s a good basket.
Even though Sha-Lou and I weren’t the closest of friends, I will never forget his winning smile and his warm disposition. It is tremendously saddening that his life was cut so short, but there is no doubt that he made his time with us count.
I offer my condolences to his friends and family at this difficult time.
August 21, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Anna Scretching
I had the pleasure of Sha-lou’s friendship throughout high school and even when we both went our separate ways to college.
We made most of our memories during Drama. We always had a blast laughing and joking with one another. I always loved show nights, he would run up to me and say “Anna! You need to do my blush! No one does my blush like you do!” And I would just smile and put on his make-up. We would always laugh at the fact that he had to wear my make-up. My senior year was very hard on the both of us…we were both afraid that me leaving would affect the wonderful friendship that we had developed…well, actually, he was more concerned about who would do his blush (as he informed me when signing my yearbook:-)) Even with the distance, we remained very good friends. I am so fortunate for that.
One of my favorite memories with Sha-lou is when the summer after his freshman year at college, we went to an *NSYNC concert. His obsession with boybands was bigger than mine! And I absolutely loved that about him…not may guys would join in a sing along to the newest boyband hit, and dance the moves as well! We had pretty good seats on the side of the stage, and everytime Justin or Lance would point in our direction, we would scream our heads off like they could actually see us! When we left that concert, we had no voices left! But we still found a way to sing along to the entire album (a few times) while driving back home.
His smile was infectious…you couldn’t help but smile when he was around. He could always find a way to make me smile, no matter how bad of a day I thought I was having. He gave the best hugs and the best advice. He always looked out for me (if he didn’t approve of my boyfriend, they guy didn’t stand a chance!)
I truly love Sha-lou and I will never forget any of the things he taught me about friendship, life, and love.
I will keep his family and friends in my thoughts and prayers.
September 10, 2009 at 8:15 am
sandrar
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.