2nd thing that stopped me in my tracks:

                  July 21^st, 2011. I was sitting on my bed, sketching, as usual, out of no inspiration but pure boredom. My brother approached my doorway. He was smiling in that proud, older brotherly way, but I could tell something was wrong. He came and sat by me & tried to make casual sibling-like conversation. I wasn’t really paying attention to whatever he was talking about. I just wanted him to get to the point. Slowly, he got there. His tone of voice changed, it was now soft & sympathetic. But his eyes whispered that he was excited & anxious. My brother announced that he would be leaving on September 20^th for two months. He would be flying to Texas for air force training. He said that hopefully he would be back by thanksgiving. I nonchalantly made small talk about the situation as I continued to sketch. When he finally left my room, I analyzed the whole situation. “Two months isn’t that long.” I thought, “But what about the next time? How long would he be gone then; years? Would he be in a completely different country? My pencil dropped as tears crawled up into my eyes & parachuted down my face. My brother was abandoning me.