My Brother’s Journey There have been many events in my life that have shaped who I am and who I will be. Friends, school, vacations- all are important to me, but none so much as the time my brother had cancer. Nothing has affected me as much, and it is doubtful that anything else will. It was a weekend in May of 2008 when my brother was called into the hospital. My parents came home late at night in a commotion, and left quickly with my brother in tow. I dismissed it as a sleepless dream and ignored it to the best of my ability. The next morning I learned that my brother Ethan had been diagnosed with leukemia, or cancer of the bone marrow and lymphatic system. He was extremely lucky as it was only in the early stages, but he was still in a lot of danger. Only a few weeks earlier he had come down with an extreme case of pneumonia, which was only made worse by his early cancer. No matter what he was afflicted with, it was still fairly serious. Chemotherapy was rough for Ethan. His hair thinned until it was almost gone, and he was nauseous and sick every day. At one time when he lost a lot of hair, he decided to play a practical joke on us. He had one of the nurses send my mother an email, with a foreboding message: “Beware, lose hair, anytime, anywhere!”. The nurse helped my brother make signs to put up all around his room, with the same saying, along with illustrated pictures of bald people and animals. My mom and dad were switching off every two days, so when my mom arrived a few hours later she came to a room full of warning signs and yarn hanging from the ceilings and bed. “What happened here?” she had said to my brother, finally connecting the dots between the email and signs. “You have been warned,” Ethan responded, yarn taped to his head and upper lip. It