ie's

t for good or bad. Days you'll always rem

y life. My parents surprised me and took the family to New Yor

nger briefcase and giving financial advice. I knew, one day, I would be working on this street, and I vowed this to myself as I glanced at the Bull statue. I ha

heart and soul. It was love at first sight. I knew this was w

ad been killed the night before. They were out celebrating my dad's promotion when a drunk driver blew through a stop sign and slammed into their car, killing

sp it myself. For a long time, he was angry, he thought they left him because he did something wrong. He kept asking when

eal sense of belonging. My love for school and determination to make something of myself wer

r they smiled more than his mouth did. He was the kind of brother you could be proud of. He was always the one to turn the othe

rother walked in to see me crying while my foster dad had his hand down my pants. Zander lost it. At 11 years old, he was already standing 5'10" and had a pers

were never empty. We managed to scrape by. It was a hard time; we didn't have much but had each other. I vowed that moment I would make something of myself and get us out of this town. Onwards and upwards was my mantra. I worked as much as possible to support us and spent t

d into my studies at Columbia and got a part-time job at a coffee shop. Everything

o be there! It's a huge game,

er. Onwards and upwards, remember,

ome by noon at the latest. You can't miss my footbal

dn't r

come!" I laughed as he jumped

the be

ine play, my heart stopped beating for a split second. Zander was tackled, but he didn't get up. The coach rushed onto the field as

NE CAL

AN AMB

d to be moving in slow motion. The crowd surged a bit, a

an't go on the field."

ING THERE!" I half sc

y after, and my brother was put on a stretcher. The coach ran over

I'm sure. Just have faith," Co

bing cries as I glanced ov

er. "Shhhh.... Zander needs

do any good. I needed to be strong an