Thursday, April 21, 2011

Horrible News

My baby brother, Paul Emanuelli, died suddenly on Nov. 8, 2010. He was 52 years old, and at home with his two kids. He wasn't sick; there was no warning. The kids said he coughed twice and passed out.

This blog is my tribute to him. I called it Paul-i-Wog because that's what we called him when he was little.

I was traveling in China when I heard the news. I was literally on a slow boat in China - chugging up the Yangtze River, hundreds of miles from anywhere. But by chance I checked my email, and there was a minutes-old message from my best friend Pam, with the subject line "Urgent."

I clicked it open, afraid it might have bad news about my 86-year-old mother. But Pam's simple message said: "Annie: Call your mom or me right away. Something happened to your brother."

I knew in my heart he was gone. I hit reply: "Is he dead?"

Seconds later, Pam responded. "Yes, honey, I'm so sorry." The words swam on the page and I couldn't move.

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