Update: Though it disrespected my fundamental right of free speech, this post has been modified to withhold the names of some people in my list from being publicly mentioned. By request, their descriptions are removed as well. They know who they are and they are all special to me. So is this post.

This post is one of my year-ender posts for 2008. This post is about the top ten people (outside my biological family) that changed or significantly contributed changes in my personal and professional life as a dignified human individual.

10th – GB (name withheld) (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

9th – John MacDonald (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada)

John MacDonald is a bachelor guy from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. We met through THC and became friends thereafter. Blessed with literary skill and a vibrant humor that he exhibits through his personal blog, this guy whistles the lessons of his past and constantly looking for ways to have his own life. He is very articulate and his opinions are endless. Proud being a straight man, he does not really want to talk to me when he is sane. When he gets a load of Keith’s beer, he surprisingly becomes a very talkative person without losing his wits. When I opened about myself to him in the past month, he made himself a safe distance from me like I’m going to influence him into something (WTF! I could be wrong). Not new. Likewise, he remained this blog’s #1 commentator. I wish that he will get a load of Keith’s so that we can talk again. He is a good listener and he deserves what he wants.

8th – Brad C. (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

Brad C. stumbled me through live video hosting website Justin.tv — and we became friends thereafter. Brad likes to interrogate me a lot about my laptop and other tech things. He wanted to know my lifestyle so I did and I showed him around my place through my laptop’s camera. It was the time when I was still working on the floor. Moved by his heart, he suddenly offered me a little money to buy a working table (it would have been my employer) — and so I was able to acquire one. I owe him internally for saving me in his little ways of help. Now, I’m using the table he gave and I’m happy. Although people say Brad can be annoying sometimes because he frequently calls anyone on Skype or flood Twitter with links, the good intentions of his heart is priceless.

7th – Gregory White (Perth, Western Australia, Australia)

I stumbled Gregory White through one of Yahoo Messenger’s chatrooms last year. Until then, we became close online friends that lasted for many months. I called him "Greggy" and he called me "Johnny." He is gay and he expressed interest in me. Being honest on my side that I don’t have interest towards him, I told him that the greatest extent of relationship I can give him is friendship — he was OK with that. Greggy saw the dawn of my professional life and he was there to support me during my downtimes as a good friend. When I graduated as Magna Cum Laude and had my 20th birthday, he gave me a cellphone as a gift. In 2007, he helped me buy a birthday cake for my mother’s birthday which I considered noble. Due to his affinity in pursuing a higher level of relationship with me, I tried to avoid him by burying myself with a lot of work — then he learned later on that I fell in love to my boss — he didn’t admit, but I know it saddened him. Despite that, we still enjoyed chatting each other everyday and talked about general things in life as I do my work as web developer in parallel. In May 2008, he called me with video and he said he wanted to see me on camera and my place — and so I did. He then told me "Thank you for making my day" which stirred my mind a lot. Several weeks later, he became sick and he rarely went online. During the third week of June 2008, I learned from his sister that Greggy passed away and she showed me a strong evidence. I was dumbfounded to see myself crying a lot after knowing the event and made me realized how stupid I was to ignore him. I learned from him that I should always value the people that are directly connected to my life and to give them enough time. Time is a gift.

6th – Chris Morris (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

Perhaps one of the most talented persons in the Internet, Chris Morris, is gifted with innovation skills and enormous supply of zeal and vigor when it comes to computer stuffs. He is a certified geek with unique blend of Aussie humor and he knows a lot of things. He likes to do videos and his computer system is pretty great (he doesn’t say it). Chris is the only kid that made me cry when he tried to help/campaign for me in an effort to win a laptop contest. His mind is pretty mature and you’ll be surprised with his quick wits. I met him through John MacDonald. It’s not impossible that one day I might be doing business with him. For now, he counts as one of my friend. I was very glad that he didn’t look down on me when I told him more about myself.

5th – Gerardo Velasco (Alhambra, California, United States)

Gerardo is one of the most special friends I met this year. Like Chris, Gerardo is loaded with computer skills at his early age (he is 16). He might consider himself a kid, but hell he is a six footer person — that is way, way beyond me ( I’m 5′3" ). Gerardo owns a lot of websites and is cultivated person when it comes to the modern realities of life. I was very glad that he didn’t go away when I told him more about myself. In fact, we became better friends and he encouraged me a lot to help me strengthen me with my struggles in all aspects. He taught me how to read tabs through Skype and how to tune a guitar. I promised to become his lifetime friend and he informed me that he treats me like his own brother. He knows a lot about me.

4th – Lynden Libres (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia)

After seven years of long wait, I finally met Lynden Libres again here in Davao City, Philippines. Lynden was one of the girls I seriously fell in love with during my high school days — a love that will last throughout the future. She became my prime motivation during my college. When she made a formal refusal to me personally-talking, I decided not to pursue her because I want her to live her life the way she wants it to be. She was the first person to whom I confessed and she was quite apathetic for that.

3rd – PL (name withheld) (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

2nd – Lauri Young (Seattle, Washington, United States)

Lauri Young is the most unique and special aunt that I have interacted this year. She is American and she works as an executive for Getchee, a Taiwan-based Geographic Information System company. When she learned better about me, she expressed her interest to help me and our family. I expect that she will be instrumental in my personal life and that will probably spark in 2009. Her insights about life are very good and she sees the world 360 degrees making her more accepting without losing the sense of distinction between what is good and bad as a human, regardless of religion, orientation and philosophy. Her success as a person makes me inspired that regardless of who you are, the power to succeed depends on you. I wish 2009 will bring us more together because I need a person like her in all aspects. In return, I want her to take advantage of all my capabilities. Hopefully, our union as team will bring a lot of good things as we are both motivated to initiate humanitarian projects and help other people who want stand up from poverty.

1st – EV (name withheld) (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

Similar Posts

• December 27, 2009 -- Top 10 People Of My Life In 2009 (6)
• February 22, 2009 -- Gift From Canada “With Love” (9)
• January 2, 2009 -- Top Events Of My Life In 2008 (5)