Julia Ziegler, special to wtop.com

Joe Paterno is gone. Meeting him was a lifelong dream of mine which I thought I’d have more time to accomplish.

I live and breathe Penn State, so to learn of JoePa’s death this weekend was a shock to my system. While that may sound overly dramatic to people outside the Penn State family; PSU alumni, current students, and friends of the university understand the sadness and pain I feel today.

Three months ago I couldn’t imagine a Penn State without Joe Paterno – let alone a world without him. Joe was just one of those people that appeared to be invincible