I wake up to see a man in a white suit staring at me, and the sound of a young boy crying.  Without realizing it at the time, that young boy was me. Then I remember, what seemed to be like a flash of light, with a bunch of pictures of me and random people fly by like a film clip rushing through my head. All of a sudden I hear my wife saying, “Why him? Why did he have to go so early?” With the sound of what seemed like dirt hitting wood above me. Then nothing…

This is life for most American men and women. They come into this world with no idea what they want to do in life, and before they know it, they are dead, and their life was boring and simplistic. Life to them is like a video game where they believe they can just “respawn” or come back to life as something or someone else, as if they never truly lived. This is the kind of life where their tombstone says “They never tried to accomplish anything.” Just imagine living a life where everything you do was not worth anything, and the only people who even think about going to your funeral are family members you believe that must go since they are family. That is the most tragic and painful torture I could ever endure, and that is something that I will never let myself have to go through. I want my tombstone to at least say, “He died trying, and never gave up.”

Well, my story starts out sort of tragic, but ends with a beginning to an amazing story and life. It all begins on a dreadful scary night in my old home town. My friend Summer screams out, “Run Chris. Get out of here!” Then with the horrible throbbing pain in my leg, I limp over to her and hold her in my arms as she collapse to the floor. I turn her over to see a sharp object impaling her stomach and a bunch of red oozing blood slowly pouring out where the object has entered. She slowly raises her hand and touches my face and says,” I love you…” with her final breath. This day I promised to myself to never let anyone die or get hurt because of my lack of strength and knowledge of knowing what to do. This day I decided to join the Marines!

Day after day, for years, I trained. Not just physically, but mentally. Waiting for the day to go and take my physical and mental test to be able to be a U.S. Marine.  I worked my butt off to be able to have to knowledge to take the ASVAB and get the best possible score I can. I went to the gym and my martial arts to build my physical core up to max strength. Finally, I got a job and did any extracurricular activities I could so I could be well rounded and show everyone I could do anything they throw at me.

After years of hard work, I have almost reached my goal, and I can honestly say that I have never given up on my belief of living a full and joyous life. I can and will know that whenever my time comes, people will show up to my funeral because they know that I was a truly kind man, and did what I did for other people and to make their lives easier. Lastly, I can rest in peace knowing that my tombstone at least says, “He died trying, and never gave up.”