For the first day in my entire life, I woke up living in a house without my brother. Joey left for college yesterday and it definitely is a little bit quieter around the house. Growing up as a child I have always looked up to him as probably my biggest role model in life. Every time I thought about whether or not I should do something, I would always run the thought, Would Joey do this?  Everything that he did was then okay for me to do because I knew he would always set himself as a good example for me. 

The last two years of my high school life I spent almost everyday with my older brother Joey. We grew very close as we started to play on a line together for the varsity hockey team here at Arrowhead, and we found ourselves hanging out with a lot of similar people. While I have always been close with him, we created an incredible bond within recent years. Every weekend I would end up spending time with Joey as we got together with our numerous friends we shared together. 

With him gone I will definitely be sad for some time, as he was a huge part of my life. However, I know that he will succeed and have the time of his life up in La Crosse, so it is important for me to do the same with my senior year. If there’s one thing that he told me that has really stuck with me, it is that he wishes he could go back and redo his senior year because it went by so fast. He constantly reminded me to take everything in and take nothing for granted because before I know it I will be in the same position he is in today. 

The memories that I have made with my big bro will last a lifetime and I will forever cherish that. After talking on the phone with him last night, he once again reminded me that I need to continue to live my life to the fullest as a new chapter in my life awaits with the beginning of my senior year.