Today, 6 June 2022, my brother John will be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. It will be a big affair, and I wish I could be there.
John is my younger brother, twin to his brother Jim. Though John’s younger than me, he loomed larger than life. He led a distinguished military career achieving the rank of colonel and was on the front line of our nation’s cyber ops. If anyone knew the true depth of the threats we face from adversaries it was him.
I looked up to John and I learned some of life’s most valuable lessons from him. He taught me forgiveness through his example, and I lived life vicariously through him from behind these walls. He was always happy to run with me no matter what hair brained journey I took us on. He believed in me when I didn’t, and always helped me when I couldn’t help myself. He took my sadness and unselfishly lifted me until I could smile and believe in a future again.
Today I salute you brother. You did well and I am proud of the life you lived. You’ve given me the strength I need to grab ahold of the future and make it my own. Every memory I have of you is fond and I am thankful god gave us the time we had. There’s a song by Brantley Gilbert called “We’re Gonna Ride Again” and brother it’s true. We’re gonna ride again and I need you to hold things down until then. In the mean time I’ll finish what we started.
I Love You Bro’,
Christopher
On Friday, 13 November 2020, at 5:04pm I lost my brother and best friend. He had been hospitalized with a resistant bacterial infection that affected his heart, lungs, and blood. By the time doctors had isolated a possible culprit, it was too late. His organs began shutting down, and he lost detectable brain activity. In the end, my family made the decision to remove him from life support and end his suffering.
