Well folks, I've gone on a long journey but I'm happy to say "That's the end of that chapter...". My parents have been keeping up with this blog since the very beginning of it all those months ago, and frankly, they're tired. It's a constant worry on their minds; mostly my Mom's... sorry Dad. I guess I can say now that I'm home, it has been a long journey, but I am currently writing this from my basement at my house: I'm home.

Now that I say that if you ALL came over for "just a short visit" I'm sure I would be entertaining you all until I actually left this house. And then of course you would all feel that you needed to welcome me in there and we're back at square one. The specialists at the rehab center also warned me about over-stimulation. They said it would slow down my healing process. So I need to make this very clear, DO NOT stop by without asking us. Not if you had a new car and you wanted to take me for a super-fast drive, NO. Not if you were getting married and for some reason you felt as if you needed my blessing, NO. Not if you had a new baby and you just wanted me to meet them for a quick bit, NO. Keep in mind that if I met everyone who read this blog and learned just one thing about them, I'd be old! That's not to say that we are annoyed that the blog has gotten this much attention, in fact we are positively gleeful that I'm that important to you. That being said what began as being a tool for the destruction of lies about my situation has been turned into really serving your needs. It had to be said. Now I'm sure bad things will happen to me at some point in the rest of my life, but that kinda stuff happens in life, we ALL have to learn to pull our belts tight, hitch up our packs and move on.

That being said I'm sure the memory of Brandon will never leave us, it certainly will never leave me. Sometimes I am quite sure I can still hear his laugh, or see him smile... he's keeping me safe now, I can say that I have my own personal guardian angel. Not many can say that, not many can say they survived a brain injury either. The point is as my parents often tell me, "He's got your 6", and it's true! I can go happily through the rest of my life never afraid 'cause I got someone up there who's pulling for me. Brandon, he'll be close to us for the rest of time, there constantly when you're all alone I know... he'll be there. When you are surrounded by friends... he'll be there. And when I finally graduate, and it's my turn to walk across the stage and get that diploma... well I'm sure he'll be there. So really he'll never leave us, he has made himself immortal... and I, we, will NEVER forget him. So as a final message to him: Brandon, thank you for pulling me through that. It will be hard to go on without you but that's what you'd want, you'd want me to have a happy life full of good memories and as Mom always says, "he's up there kicking our asses!". Finally thank you Brandon, for teaching me so much about life, and sadly death, I'm pretty sure you'd have to look pretty far to find a 17 year old with as much life experience as I have. Thank you Brandon, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

So I am very sorry to say this, but this will be the last entry for a very VERY long time. Now I was a bit distressed when my parents told me this, but they're right, it's time for us all to get past this and leave it as a memory. I'll write on this the odd time, but take this as a farewell, time to get on with my life. And thank you for being involved and reading this blog and keeping up to date. This is my last chance to thank you all at once so, THANK YOU!!! (And my Mom and Dad thank you too) Well my friends, this is the end of this chapter and at camp we'd probably sing 'Lean On Me' or 'Will Our Friendships Be Unbroken'. So whenever you hum those tunes think of me, and how you are a good person because you helped, you really did. Well I won't say goodbye, I'll say see you later......

Your friend,
Jared