When I was living in Massachusetts, I had two older brothers who both smoked and did drugs. One of them is now living up in Maine on food stamps with his wife while the second one eventually ended up moving out to Utah with the rest of us because of what happened while he was in Massachusetts. My brother, whose name is Matthew ended up living in Massachusetts for two years after my family moved out to Utah for my dad's new job at the Veterans Affairs Hospital.

During our time in Massachusetts, Matthew would always be hanging out with his friends, either out smoking and partying or partying and doing drugs, mainly marijuana. Our mother always talked to him about never smoking or doing drugs because of what they could do to him and how they could affect him. Matthew has always been a kindhearted person, but he had never hung around the right people to keep him on the right path. His friends were always trying to make him try cigarettes or smoke weed, and eventually he caved into the peer pressure, just like most people would during their teens. The day he tried a cigarette, our mom could tell right away as she could smell the smoke on him because of the smell that clings onto your clothes. Our mother gave him a scolding and grounded him for a week, but of course, once you try for the first time, it will more than likely lead to more and more and even bigger and worse things that can lead to more than just an addiction. My brother found this out really quickly as he went from a decent student getting A's and B’s to failing almost every single class because instead of going, he would cut class and go hang out with his new friends and go smoke a cigarette or two before the next class. Not only that, but it got to a point where he would be suspended from school every other week because he was getting into fights or getting caught skipping class, and it became such a problem that one of the teachers had him sitting right next to him in class just so she could keep an eye on him to make sure he wasn't fooling around during her class and our mother had the vice principal, Mr. Millner, on speed dial and whenever he called, her answer would be “What did Matthew do this time?” Eventually Matthew had to drop out of high school because he would have to take the ninth grade over again and he just didn't want to do it again.

 

After dropping out, Matthew would continue to hang out with his friends and continue to smoke and soon started smoking marijuana. Matthew was almost never home and was always sleeping over at a friend's house smoking. The times he was home was when he had to babysit me and.my siblings while my mom and dad went out to eat. While our parents were gone, Matt had complete control over us and made us bring him stuff and fight from time to time and even play some games he made up like “Can't touch the floor” where you can't touch the floor or else you are out and “The Mattress Game” where you take a mattress and put it in between me and my brother’s twin beds and two people were under it and two people on top of it and you had to get out from under it while they tried to keep you under it for as long as possible. He wasn't the best older brother and I have never completely forgiven him for his actions.

 

About two years ago, after my family moved out to Utah, Matthew was living in an apartment with his friends, still smoking and partying like he did in high school, the only difference was that he was dating and had different friends because he had moved to a different town. He would normally call our mom and asking things like, “When are you visiting?” or “When can I visit you guys?”. Most of the time he was just lonely and wished to be with his family, but continued his erroneous ways, but on one fateful night, his wish came true, but in a way that no one would want it to occur. He was over at a friend's apartment smoking and partying once again, just trying to have a good time. All of a sudden, his friend’s ex-boyfriend came over with a knife (the knife was hidden at the time of entry). The ex-boyfriend had been drinking earlier that night and began to argue with the ex-girlfriend about why they broke up and her taking her back, the normal exes fight. The ex-boyfriend started to get more aggressive and Matthew decided to step in to keep him from hurting the girl. At this point, he turned onto Matthew and he said to him, “I'll *expletive* kill you!” and pulled out the knife on Matthew. Matthew ran as far as he could go, which was a nearby gas station before he ran out of breath and the man caught him and started stabbing him until he ran because the cops were on their way. Matthew’s friends eventually got to where Matt was and took him to the hospital where he was barely breathing at that point. When our mother heard the news, she bought a plane ticket and flew over there as soon as possible to be with him. The doctors said that it was a miracle that Matt was even still alive after where he was stabbed. If he had been stabbed just an inch higher, it would have pierced his heart and he would be dead. After he recovered enough, he moved out to Utah to be with the rest of the family.

 

Matt quit smoking, but still does marijuana from time to time, but he has cleaned us his act, got a job, plans to get a degree, and found a new person to date. It is a miracle that Matt is still here today, but all of this may have been avoided if Matt had never smoked in the first place, but the past is past and he has turned a new leaf and is living his life anew.