Happy Birthday Chris!

Happy Birthday Chris. Today is Chris’s 27th birthday. A day that is supposed to be a happy one full of joy and cake and presents is one full of tears and empty arms. His mother is probably crying and his kids are probably wondering why right now. Tears are falling for him 5 years later tears for a fallen Solider. See my friend Chris was killed in Iraq in 2004. He was fighting for my freedom and all of us. He just wanted to make his kids proud of him.

I will always remember Chris as a smart man who was very funny. I miss him a lot. I think about him often. He was special. He could make me laugh. He “saved” my life once. Well, I twisted my ankle and he came and got me. We didn’t always get along but he was a good man. We butted heads a lot but we had fun playing Perfect Dark and talking. I learned so much from Chris. He was an encyclopedia of knowledge.

We always did crazy things, Chris, Her and I one year we decided we were gonna go and buy each other a ton of presents and open one each night and then we would end up opening more so we would have to get more presents. They had a birthday party of me and I ended up knocking everything out of the fridge with the gallon of orange juice and I got kicked out of the kitchen. Long Story :)

I remember when She told me he was enlisting. I thought oh he’ll be ok he will be fine. I remember when she told me he was going to Iraq. I reassured her it will be ok he will come home. I remember that March afternoon when I checked my voicemail and it was her calling and saying Call me right away Something bad has happened. I remember when I called her back her sister wouldn’t tell me what was going on. I remember when she called me back and told me. She said Chris has passed away. I couldn’t believe it I couldn’t speak and opened the gates of the Hoover Dam of tears.

I remember the viewing, I remember the funeral. It was really hard for me to approach my best friend of 17 years. I remember all of it. It seems like a dream. I used to dream that Chris was on a secret mission and that he was faking like in the movies and he would just randomly show up. Of course that isn’t the truth. My heart hurts for his family and his kids. His youngest will never remember him and that is a sad sad thing. Chris was a great person , great father and an American Hero.

So, Happy Birthday Chris, some day we will be able to see each other again and We can talk about all those things we talked about back in the day. Until then, Happy New Year.
Love,Sherla

Please remember to Thank A Solider give them a hug after all they sacrifice things: their time and their lives for our freedom. Support the Troops until they all come home. Remember to hold them tightly and tell them how proud of them you are.