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Friends, Together Again

Joseph P. Anchundia, Judd Cavalier and Ian Crystal were best friends from grade school. They went off to different colleges, but after graduation it seemed only natural to get back together in a four-bedroom duplex in Midtown Manhattan. "When I mention Joe, I have to mention Judd," Mr. Crystal said. "We always pictured ourselves growing old together, hanging out. We never got sick of each other."

As children, their bond was going to Flower Hill Elementary School in Huntington, on Long Island. Later, it was bars. Still later, it was the monthly rounds of theaters and steakhouses. Mr. Anchundia loved Filli Ponte's lobster; Mr. Cavalier, who worked with Mr. Anchundia, a trader at Sandler O'Neill & Partners, liked Smith & Wollensky so much he wanted to decorate their apartment the same aristocratic shade of green.

But among them, Mr. Anchundia, 26, stood out for being sweet and happy. So happy, he would wake up at 6 in the morning, crank up Steely Dan, and enter the shower whistling.

Mr. Anchundia was a middle child and a momma's boy. His last note to Mr. Crystal, who had gone away to business school, said, "I love you bro bro broski bro bro. Joe."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 21, 2001.