15 Years Ago Today...

My fantastic little brother, Rhett, died of Meningococcal Disease. He was only 15 years old. And grew his wings just four months after my brother, Matthew, left us. I was living in Yellowstone at the time of Rhett's death. Before it happenend, I remember having "day-mare's" of being in my little apartment by the little brown couch on the phone with my mom telling me that I would "need to sit down because I have something to tell you". As it turned out, my mom called me while I was working in the gift shop down stairs. She told me, "you need to sit down because I have something to tell you". I then screamed into the phone, "not here, call me upstairs", which is where the little brown couch was, where I sat down, where I heard that my happy, active, playful, beautiful, younger brother had contracted this rare disease and was gone within 12 hours of first displaying signs of being sick.

Rhett was the good kid that made everyone feel that they were a part of his life. He was a perfectionist and would get so frustrated when it was his turn to do the dishes. He could not bring himself to eat off of the dishes that he washed.

He had his own way of speaking. My favorite was when he was babysitting our niece. Rhett: "Mom, it was crying like 80, so then I picked it up; and then it stopped, so I put it back down". (All said in his cute little teenager boy surfer voice)I dream of Rhett, and I look forward to our embrace.

Matthew was taken away from the constant torment he suffered from having anger management issues due to a head trauma he suffered when he was 9. He was also heavily addicted to drugs. I met Matthew (Matt:) when I was 10 years old when I was taken in and adopted by the Hale's. The first time we met, he had to go run and fix his hair so he could make a good impression. Since we were so close in age we, unfortunately, argued and felt very competitive with each other. However, I do remember very strongly the times we enjoyed being together. He was always the daredevil and would get me to do things that I would never consider doing myself.

I also loved his sense of humor. He.was.hilarious. He could tell a story in a way that I would hurt from laughing so hard. And so many times he would catch me off guard with some random pratfall while I was in the middle of a meal. I had to practice containing myself from laughing or else whatever beverage I would be drinking would come straight out my nose.

The night before he left for Job Corps our senior year, we had a great conversation. We sort of put to rest any angry or hurtful things we had done to each other throughout the years. He decided he was going to come back a better person and he actually apologized for many things that had caused us to not have as much trust as we should have.

When he came back, he tried so very hard. But "life" was so difficult for him to comprehend. That morning, before he died, he came into my room, asked for a piece of gum, then told me he loved me.

I am so very grateful to have had Matthew in my life. He helped me gain a new layer of empathy and a wonderful perspective to my life. He's my angel that I know I can count on when the goin' gets tough.

From Matthew and Rhett Porter

From Left to Right: Rhett Porter Hale and Matthew James Hale