Can you single out just one day from your past that you can honestly say changed your life forever? I know I can. It was a typical January day, with one exception; it was the day the Pope came to St. Louis. My brother and I had tickets to the youth rally, and we were both very excited. It was destined to be an awesome day- or so we thought. The glory and euphoria of the Papal visit quickly faded into a time of incredible pain and sorrow, a time from which I am still emerging.That day. The date was Tuesday, January 26, 1999, and the entire city of St. Louis was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Pope. The day started with a bus ride to Lacledes Landing where thousands of high school students joined together and marched to the Kiel Center where the Papal Youth rally was being held. When the Pope finally arrived at around 7:30 PM, it was absolutely breathtaking. The Holy Fathers words covered everything from baseball, and Mark McGwire, to teen suicide. Even though I did not realize it at that moment, his words were about to become a huge part of my life.By the time I got home, my brother had already arrived and was enthusiastically recounting the days events to my mom, who had obviously been crying. When he finally stopped carrying on, my mom told me to sit down and then she told me. I will never forget her exact words or even the way she said them. Megan committed suicide today. I stared blankly at her, I knew she had to be lying, she had to be wrong, Megan would never do that. We had been too good of friends for too long, I knew her too well. Megan was always happy, she always had a joke to tell. She had such a bright future, she was an excellent athlete and it seemed as though she succeeded in everything she tried. We played Volleyball together, we were co-captains of the soccer team and we even managed the wrestling team together. I never imagined the word suicide could even be a part of her vocabulary. That is...
