Every few days for the past several months, I've looked forward to the positive updates and progress from my High School friend Michael Stoll. He has been battling cancer for several months, enduring some unbelievable pain while undergoing treatment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Family and friends always offered hope, even though his Facebook posts were often dire.
Thursday morning, instead of seeing an update from him, I saw something different. Another High School friend posted how sad she was that he was gone. For a minute, my mind dashed around hoping he was "gone" on vacation or gone from the ICU, or the cancer was gone. But for Michael, his battle was over.
I was amazed at how the news touched me. Honestly, I only saw him in passing since High School. And we are 39 years old so it's been more than twenty years since high school. Sure, we chit-chatted on Facebook from time to time, but nothing more than that. Honestly, I don't even know what he did for a living.
But it wasn't about the present or the future. He did something miraculous when we were teenagers: he stuck up for me. Back in high school I loved model railroading, the weather, studying history, and playing the piano. I never had designer clothes, Air Jordans, or a lot of friends. I was the definition of a nerd.
But nearly every time a bully knocked the books out of my hands, Michael Stoll was there to help me pick them up. When the pickins were getting slim to choose teammates, he made sure I wasn't last to be picked. When people called me a f*g, he shook his head no at them or scared them off. When my fly was down, Michael whispered at me to pull it up. We never became good friends because he was a soccer player and I was a geek, but his heart was big enough to pick me up.
And thanks to Michael, about ten years after graduation I showed up on TV in Rockford, Illinois. All of those bullies got to see ME doing the weather on TV, being successful for 11 years. How was that for showing them?
Our story is not unique. There are people like Michael and me in every school. Some kids out there who can't see how bright the future is. Even if you only live as long as Michael did, there's a lot of time to have a positive impact. If you're bullied, screw them. If you're a bully, stop it. One more bully or one less Michael at Boylan High School in 1992 and you probably would be watching a different Meteorologist on WQAD.
Since I never got to say thank you to him for standing up for me in high school before he died, I wanted to share this with you. But more importantly, I hope this is shared with the kid who gets kicked down for looking different, thinking different, or being different.
Mike taught me, it'll be okay.
-Meteorologist Eric Sorensen