My name is Alex Faure, and this is my story...

“I wasn’t always an only child. I had an older brother, Jaycen. He was my best friend. He was seven years my senior, but he always made time for me. He loved me. I was very blessed to have him for an older brother. When I started getting teased at school for my size, he said that he would deal with Tyson the next day. Well, I told him too late.


“Jaycen started going to the hospital. I was often home alone. He was in the seventh grade; I was in kindergarten. I didn’t really know what was going on. All that I knew was that he was very, very sick. My parents neglected me even more than they had. I visited Jaycen and actually kept his spirits up. He kept saying that he could beat this, that he would one day be well enough to run across sunny fields and play lacrosse again. I did my best to fuel that hope.


“But Jaycen grew weaker and weaker, his voice got smaller, he didn’t go to school or wear his wig. There were days when I just sat in his room and stared at him. He was basically stuck in bed all summer. It was cruel. He was large, tall, and loved the outdoors. And because he had leukemia, that very thing was denied to him.


“We’d found out too late. He was already in stage four, with no chance of going into remission. I remembered the day that our parents told us that he had six months to live- it was spring time. I’d never seen my brother cry, not even when he broke his leg at a game earlier that year, and I never did again. I didn’t understand what was going on. I could only watch helplessly.


“My parents didn’t allow me to skip school, and conditions there worsened as Jaycen’s strength was sapped. I was absolutely miserable. I hated school and wanted to blame Jaycen for his bad timing, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. All he’d ever done to me had been kind and loving, and that just wouldn’t be fair. So in turn, I blamed myself.


“Summer came- the best and worst summer of my life. It was good because I was safe from all the merciless teasing that I’d had to endure and Jaycen could occasionally go outside on a good day. It was horrible because Jaycen died on my birthday.


“I was confused and mad at Jaycen for leaving me. I really didn’t want him to die. But alive, he’d been at sheer torture, worse than anything that I’d gone through. I realized that Jaycen no longer had any pain, that he was once again free to run around and do as he pleased. He was strong again. And even though I couldn’t see him, I was glad for his sake. But even now, seven years later, I really, really miss him…”