FRIENDS
After we learned the terrible news of Chris’s death, my four-year-old daughter Ellyse wrote the following prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you for Mr. Chris and for making him better and that he’s with you now. Thank you that he got to play with me a lot and for being with him at that very moment.
You see, Elly didn’t know her “Mr. Chris” as an American hero—she knew him as one of her heroes. She knew him as a friend’s daddy who had an inviting smile, twinkly eyes, a huge heart, and wide-open arms. Chris’s large presence demanded attention, but his fun-loving and gentle spirit invited laughter and playfulness. Every soccer or basketball practice and game, Elly sought Chris out, knowing he would welcome her up in that big ol’ lap of his.
The morning of Chris’s death, we were all at the kids’ basketball game. We were getting the boys ready to go home to play for the afternoon and we couldn’t find Elly anywhere. I looked up at my husband and said, “I don’t see Chris, what do you want to bet that she’s still in the gym on his lap?” Sure enough, that’s where she was, and where she had been for the previous hour and a half—laughing and giggling and playing. If that doesn’t tell you about the endless patience and heart of Chris Kyle, I don’t know a story that would.
Nearly four months later, Elly’s prayers still include the words, “Please be with my friends and Mrs. Taya and give them peace and be with their hearts.” She may not understand everything there is to understand about death and heaven, but she understands the void that Chris’s death leaves. She knows that Mr. Chris was a hero to his kids and to his wife, and she understands that their hearts all need the comfort only God can provide.
To say that Chris loved kids is an understatement. The fact that he happened to love mine is a bonus that gives his status of “legend” an even greater meaning to us. I would never want to downplay Chris’s military achievements, but the legacy that he leaves is so much more than his brilliant and amazing military records. The records would stand on their own, but how much more amazing to have the depth of love and compassion for others that Chris had.