Birthdays Past; Memories Revisited.

The band One Republic has so many great songs, and ‘I Lived’ is one of them. From the time my brother was a little boy, he had an indomitable spirit. Boundaries were meant to be broken, challenges charged head on, and fear seemed to be a foreign concept to our family’s curly, reddish-brown-haired and twinkly-eyed tyke. This stanza from this song is Chris personified, “I owned every second that this world could give, I saw so many places, the things that I did, yeah, with every broken bone, I swear I lived”. 

My mom shared that she was recently asked, “does it get any easier?”, by another mother who is just learning to live with a broken heart. No, was the simple answer. Twelve years into her grief journey, my mom says, “we visit the hurt and the pain, but we cannot afford to stay there. It will make you go crazy. Focus on the love and the memories!” With that, it seems fitting on my brother’s special day to share memories from birthdays past.

We didn’t have a lot of money growing up. My dad is a retired Marine, and after my brothers and I were all in school, my mom worked in an elementary school cafeteria. She was (and still is) innovative, creative, and approaches life with a positive, happy and can-do spirit. Many times we heard, “if there is a will, there IS a way”. So, we had two birthdays each year – one shared with our four cousins and one especially for us. Every summer we would make the 17 hour-ish drive straight through, stopping only for gas and the bathroom, to visit our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in Northern Mississippi. One of the highlights was our shared birthday party! There was a build-up of suspense and excitement. We drew one name each for presents and had to keep it a secret from the others as to whom we would be giving a gift, likely from the dollar store. What did we think our cousin would really like was always the thought that went into shopping for the “perfect” gift. When the day arrived, we would have a bag of balloons to blow up. They would be taped around the kitchen intermingled with twisted and colorful crepe paper streamers. I’m not sure why, but ice cream scooped from a gallon bucket tasted especially delicious, and each cousin’s name was written in colorful cursive icing on our shared, homemade birthday cake. 
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This year, I asked my mom to take a visit down memory lane with me, and she had this to share about Chris:

“On September 16, 1974, Christopher George Campbell was ready to make his entrance into the world. His dad and I rushed to the pink hospital on the hill in Honolulu, Hawai’i where he made his appearance. Shortly after his arrival, we made our journey home where he settled in and oh, was he hungry! A year passed, and our precious baby boy celebrated his first birthday with cake, icing and ice cream that ended up squished in his tiny fingers, all over his little face and in his hair. As he grew, the parties did with friends and fun. His cake was decorated according to whatever Chris liked at the time, whether it was Pac-Man, baseball or surf boards. We played simple games, and in his younger years, pin the tail on the donkey was a hit. A paper donkey was taped on the wall, less a tail. Everyone took turns being blindfolded, spun around and then given the missing paper tail. One never knew where the tail would end up, probably not even on the donkey. A taste test was another little game that consisted of sampling household condiments and trying to guess… what is that taste? The little samples consisted of things like mustard, dill pickles, powdered cocoa, ketchup, sugar, salt, and flour. It was just a dab, and the comical and exagerated expressions they all made while trying to guess was a funny sight to see. Most of the time they didn’t have a clue what they tasted, but having a fun time together and being silly was always the goal. Time passed, Chris got older and then he joined the Navy. There weren’t so many parties, but birthdays were never forgotten! On one of Chris’ last birthdays with us, he came home on leave for a visit. Chris, his daughter, dad, big brother, longtime friend Joe and his nephew, Zach, joined us. We had a nice meal and then strawberry jello cake, Chris’ favorite. His daughter and I put a whole box of candles on the cake – it almost looked like more candles than cake. Chris and his daughter blew them all out together. An emphatic YES! was exclaimed at their shared success of extinquishing the flames in unison. Years have come and gone. Things have certainly changed! Chris’ birthday is still remembered, and we will always celebrate our memories and his life. May God bless you all.” 

~Chris’ Mama, Diane

Proverbs 3:5-6 5,Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6, In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

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While our birthdays with Chris have changed since he left us, his legacy continues. The team at Project Campbell’s Call remains committed to the cause of raising awareness for my brother’s last request which helps returning U.S. veteran’s in the various challenges they may confront after their war-time service. What was Chris’ last request? He hoped 100,000 people would make a contribution to Wounded Warrior Project, a life-saving and life-changing nonprofit organization dedicated to providing programs and services to all our post 9-11 military men and women. Thus far, over 48,000 donors have been a part of Chris’ living legacy. If you are reading this and have made a donation to Wounded Warrior Project in my brother’s memory, thank you! His life of service to others continues because of you. 

I’ll end this post with a Happy 49th Birthday, my beloved “baby” brother, Christopher George Campbell. These lyrics from the song ‘Glad You Came’ by The Wanted capture my feelings perfectly… “The sun goes down, the stars come out, and all that counts is here and now, my universe will never be the same, I’m glad you came.”

Cindy
Proud Sister of Christopher George Campbell, US Navy
8/6/11 – September 16, 1974
“The greatest casualty is being forgotten” – WWP®