“So, what did you get on the Geometry test?” Graham asked me one day in Academic Recovery. “95%,” I replied, fairly satisfied with my score, and fairly sure I had beaten him, as the test was fairly difficult. He smiled and said, “95.5%.” This was, in math and Magic, the way I felt relative to Graham. Pretty much all the times we did battle in these things (after I actually figured out what I was doing in Magic), I would always finish just slightly second-best.
This irritated me to no end, but it did something else to me. In the past, and somewhat now, an A was enough, and a 2-1 win was sufficient. But when I was with Graham, every point counted, and there was no margin for error. So when I finally beat his grade on a Geometry test, I think you can guess by what margin it was-1/2% Graham brought out the best in everybody he came into contact with, and I am no exception. I feel extremely lucky to have known him, and wish I had had the chance to know him for longer.