There are certain events, people, times that tend to stick in your mind. Most of your daily life will fade away, but there are the few special moments that will remain with you forever. Some are beautiful, some are tragic, some are simply memorable.

On September 25th, 2009 my brother died, a drug overdose. He was 23 years old, 4 years older then i am. My brother and i haven't spoken in months, not that this was new. Our last conversation had been a screaming match. He's been fighting with an addiction to drugs since he was very young, and this time around i thought he was finally beginning to win. After he'd gone to jail he'd been admitted to a halfway house, and he was staying clean. I dared to hope that the brother i once knew and loved would be returned, but i never visited him or wrote him, despite my father asking me to. The day before entering into his second month at the halfway house, he ran. Back to his whore 'girlfriend.' That was on Tuesday. That Friday, he took the last drugs he ever would. His 'girlfriend' was high too. It took her so long to realize he was overdosing and to call 911 that by the time the EMT's arrived, he was brain dead. My brother stayed alive for 4 more hours, and he died at 3am the morning of September 26th.
I went back into the hospital room to see him. His eyes were open and he was hooked up to a million different machines. My mom never left his side, my dad couldn't stop crying. I will never, ever forget his face. I see it when i close my eyes, i dream about it. His eyes, half-open and bloodshot. I can't get him out of my head...


JOEL A. MANDARINO, 1986-2009.
I love you so much....
your little sister, brie