CHAIRMAN OF ELIZABETH TOON CHARITIES
I first met Chris and Taya shortly after Chris left the Navy. I met him through a mutual friend—former Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach. Chris had recently begun training military and police officers in a variety of tactical arts. We were looking for a unique fund-raising opportunity, and Chris offered to host a training session. It turned out to be a highly successful fund-raiser.
Chris was one of those guys who immediately got it. I admired his contributions as a member of the military, but it wasn’t the military side of him that I saw. It was more a warm, giving side. He was one of those guys who flat give you the shirt off their back—then ask if you want another one.
My daughter had been gone for a few years at that point. I think Chris and I formed a connection in some way because of the grief that I had gone through and the things he had to endure in war. He had a sensitivity about him that touched me deeply.
Then came that terrible day when he died. It’s hard to get my head around it even now. But suffering through my daughter’s death taught me something very important. I used to spend my time asking God, Why did you take her? It was as if I was living in a very bad dream, each day hoping to wake up to a different reality but never quite getting there.
Then one day I realized I had my thinking backward. Rather than asking why God had taken her, I should instead be telling other people why God gave her to us. Her life was a gift to make us appreciate generosity and hope, what people can do when they are full of life and potential.
I feel exactly that way about Chris, and I’ll be telling people about him for the rest of my life. His good works live on through dozens of organizations and hundreds of people, who are all taking his example and making the world a better place.