My name is Julia Turek. I'm 13. I lost a brotherly figure August 27th, 2013. His name was Bart Palosz. A lot of people read his story. A sweet, sweet boy, who after 7 years couldn't take it anymore. He came back home after the first day of school and shot himself. You can imagine the shock of coming home after school, on this day, and learning that someone I loved is gone. I still remember that day coming home. It was a warm, and sunny day. Not a cloud in sight, the sky a baby blue color. The wind was fresh and reviving. It was blowing my hair back, tickling the nape of my neck. I had jogged up the stairs and thrown open the door. I yelled, "Mom, I'm home". She was standing there, dressed all in black. A baggy t-shirt, some loose shorts. She had looked up at me, and said, "Hi, Love". Her eyes had been puffy, red, tear-stained. I could tell she tried to wipe away her tears when she heard me bounding up the stairs. She never was like that. I knew there was only one thing. "Who died? Was it Grandma, an uncle, an aunt?" She looked up at me with pain in her eyes. I would never have guesses she would say "Bartek, has shot himself." I remember my feet collapsing from beneath me, and falling into a heap crying.

It's funny how when someone is gone all of a sudden everything you ever did together comes flashing before your eyes. The laughter, jokes, tears. Everything. I remembered our trip from two weeks before he died to New York. We had raced through the streets seeing who was faster. We had sat outside on the sidewalk in front of the Yankee store while the rest of our families were inside, because I am a Red Sox fan and refused to step inside. I remember our trip to Old Lyme with his best friend Radek, where we had canoed. The hospital after my brother had been born. Every moment we ever spent together flashed by.

Now even 6-7 months later, I can't handle the truth. My heart hurts for Ania his mother, Franek his father, and Beata, and all of his friends. We lost someone we all dearly loved. 

Losing someone affects you your whole life. Jokes that used to be funny aren't anymore. Smiling is just a bit harder. At my school we take lots of tests that test our reading comprehension. Most tests are about bullying or texting and driving.  Now, I can't take that test without crying. I can't read about how victims feel, about how they later on develop problems. I can't stand thinking that that's how he must have felt. That in those few years he could feel so alone, so helpless.

Bullying not only affects person you are bullying. It affects everyone that loved them. You scar them, their family, and friends. Thanks to bullying here's another family and friends without someone they love thanks to bullying.