A year ago today, I was sitting in class at school (today was Friday a year ago) and when class got done, my roommate came in and told me that I had to call home right away. I knew it must be serious because of his demeanor. I drove to my apartment and called my sister-in-law's cell phone and she told me in a very serious voice that my little brother, sixteen at the time, was very sick and in the hospital. I thought, no big deal, it must be his appendix or something like that. I was told to come home immediately. I live 225 miles from home so it wasn't a short drive. On the way home, I joked around in my mind that I was going to give him a hard time when I got home and that I brought my good cloths home because I thought he was dead.
Well, I pulled into the driveway of my house and my older brother and sister-in-law were standing there. I got out of the car and asked, "What's up?" My older brother responded,
"Paul went to the hospital this morning, he had meningitis, he didn't come home."
We both started crying and hugging, I didn't know what to say or do. The next two weeks were a blur. About 2000-2500 people came to the wake, keep in mind my hometown is only 12000 people. The High School contemplated canceling school the next day because the majority of the 3000 kids wanted to come to the funeral. It took five busloads and about a mile of cars to carry all of the people from the church to the cemetery. It's now been a year, but he is still not forgotten. Freshly cut roses and carnations grace his headstone each week as well as many other trinkets that friends bring.

If I can get one point across is to be aware of this disease and what to watch and look for. Meningitis is not a common disease, but it is still very serious. There is little you can do to stop it once its taken hold of your body. My brother started with a fever at 11 pm on Thursday night and was dead by 11 am the next morning. If you are in a dormitory environment, take precautions. You can be vaccinated for it. More than anything make sure you tell you family often that you love them and how much they mean to you. That is my biggest regret; I never got to tell my brother how much he meant to me.

Sorry for the book, it just helps sometimes to tell the story.