The night before 11-year-old Joshua Rodriguez died in Monday’s accident—when a bus struck his bicycle on Memorial Drive—he had stayed over at the home of best friend Cody Cordova.
Cordova, 12, was among a group of boys at skate park in Hollister on Tuesday reflecting about the loss of their friend. Cordova mentioned how Rodriguez had attended Ladd Lane Elementary School and then went on to Maze Middle School, where he was set to attend seventh grade next month. Cordova described Rodriguez as his best friend and someone who was respectful to other people.
“He was like the most lovable guy you could know,” Cordova said. “He was so nice and everything. The day before he died, he spent the night at my house. We just had a bonfire.”
Cordova and other friends at skate park at Veterans Memorial Park mentioned how Rodriguez liked video games, the Kendama toy, scooting, skating regularly at the local park, the DC skate brand and the song “See You Again” from the Furious 7 soundtrack.
“He’s just like the best person you could meet,” Cordova said.
Skaters in the group repeatedly said Rodriguez was nice to everyone, even those who weren’t as pleasant to him.
“He’s one of the nicest kids you’ll ever meet,” said 13-year-old Adrian Jacobs-Carrillo at the park. “He loves everyone even if they’re mean to him. Even if people bullied him, he still loved them as a friend.”
Jacobs-Carrillo said the tragedy showed all the friends a lesson about coming together in tough times.
“Since we have all our friends here, all of us support each other,” he said.
Georgie Ferreira, 12, mentioned how at the time of the accident, Rodriguez had been coming from McDonald’s with another boy who took a short cut instead of crossing at Memorial Drive.
“Josh, his last words were, ‘See you on the other side,’” Ferreira said.
