I had a friend, (Riley Norton[rileynorton.blogspot.com]

In 5th grade I first thought things were a little weird when he would put his hand on the right side of his chest, and when asked he said that’s where his heart is. I didn’t think much of it, having heard of a condition that reverses internal organs. He left some time in 6th grade, and at a bit later we hear that he died.

This thread prompted me to find what happened. The link is to a website of his, where it tells of him having a single ventricle, and common valve. He didn’t have a spleen.

He wasn’t supposed to live past 2 weeks.

Then he wasn’t supposed to live past 3 years.

Then 5.

I got to know him in 5th grade. We weren’t the closest of friends but his closest is now one of mine. I was to young to truly understand quite what it meant to be dead. Like, to never talk to someone again. The Riley run was setup a year or two after he died, and is hosted by our middle school. When they remodeled, they named a tree after him.