Carrying the Light: A Father’s Journey Through Loss and Legacy with Christopher Cochran
Sep 30, 2024The worst thing any parent can face is the loss of their child. We often talk about turning tragedy into inspiration but, for the Cochran family, this is an understatement. At 22, beautiful young soul Christian Cochran would receive a diagnosis that would change everything. Yet despite a painful and exhausting journey with a rare form of cancer, Christian remained a Light of Hope in the lives of anyone he came into contact with.
After his passing, Christian’s parents have carried on the legacy of their bright & inspiring son. Today, I have the honor of chatting with Christian’s dad, Christopher Cochran, about the book he wrote honoring his son’s life, about what he has learned through this unimaginable loss and how he finds inspiration and hope through even the darkest moments of grief.
Christopher so openly and generously shares about his journey, what he has learned and how he still continues to experience his son, Christian, from the spirit world.
You won’t want to miss this conversation of honesty, hope and advice.
Show Notes:
Website: https://www.chriscochranspeaks.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriscochranspeaks/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.cochran.948/
Book: “What’s GOOD About TODAY?
A Purpose-Driven Life”
Christopher Cochran: SPEAKER, AUTHOR & CEO. Bio:
Have overthinking, anxiety, and anger consumed your mind and heart?
Envision a future where you lead with positivity and feel uplifted and inspired each day by the world around you. How might life look different if you could easily answer the question: What's good about today?
As an experienced business professional in large public companies,,Christopher Cochran has helped many companies grow and improve. He had years of involvement with sales, marketing, and leadership, motivating people to realize their full potential.
However, what's been more illuminating than anything Chris ever experienced in the corporate sphere are the lessons his amazing son, Christian, taught him about embracing joy and living each day to the fullest.
In his sons’ brief, but notably well-lived 23 years of life, Christian's uplifting spirit, powerful words, and brilliant example not only inspired Chris and others but also drew a map that led Chris down the path to a purpose-driven life.
Now, he’s sharing the journey of his family, including the challenges they faced and the valuable lessons they learned, to help show each of us how to find the good within each day.
Board of directors at Coeptis Therapeutics Holdings, Inc., where he works on developing advanced cancer therapies.
Christian Cochran Legacy Fund through the Pittsburgh Foundation, a nonprofit organization inspired by his son Christian’s enduring spirit.
Episode Transcript:
hey, beautiful soul, welcome
to spirit speakeasy. I'm Joy Giovanni, joyful medium. I'm a working psychic medium, energy healer and spiritual gifts mentor. This podcast is like a seat at the table in a secret club, but with mediums, mystics and the spiritual luminaries of our time. So come behind the velvet ropes with me and see inside my world as I chat insider style with profoundly gifted souls, we go deep, share juicy stories, laugh a lot, and it wouldn't be a speakeasy without great insider secrets and tips. You might even learn that you have some gifts of your own so step inside the spirit speakeasy. Hey, beautiful soul. I am so honored to have you with me. Today we have a very special guest conversation. Not that all of our guests aren't special, but today we have with us someone named Christopher Cochran. He has written an incredible book called What's good about today, a purpose, driven life. And in our talk today, he so graciously and openly shares his journey, his journey actually is so intertwined with his son's journey, his incredible, beautiful, wonderful son, Christian was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at age 23 a cancer that normally affects people in their senior years. But this young, vibrant soul ends up with this terminal cancer. So it's partially the story of Christian's life and journey with cancer and ultimate passing to the spirit world. It's the family's story of their experience with Christian. And he really is such a special, beautiful soul, this young man, he touches so many people through not only all of the amazing endeavors he undertakes in his 23 years of life, but also his spirit that shines through just as a natural part of who he is, it is so eloquently and beautifully shared in this book, and Christopher so graciously, has agreed to come and open his heart and talk to us today about his son Christian, about his own journey as a parent, and about the work that he is channeling this into to help the world today. So without further ado, I'm going to introduce to you Mr. Christopher Cochran, thanks for being here with me today. Hey, beautiful soul, welcome back or welcome in for another episode of spirit speakeasy, our guest today is speaker, author and CEO Christopher Cochran, have overthinking anxiety and anger consumed your mind and heart. Envision a future where you led with positivity and feel uplifted and inspired each day by the world around you. How might life look differently if you could easily answer the question, what's good about today? As an experienced business professional in large public companies, Christopher Cochran has helped many companies grow and improve. He had years of involvement with sales, marketing, leadership, motivating people to realize their full potential. However, what's been most illuminating, more illuminating than anything Chris ever experienced in the corporate sphere are the lessons his amazing son, Christian taught him about embracing joy and living each day to the fullest in his son's brief but notably well lived, 23 years of life. Christian's uplifting spirit, powerful words, a brilliant example, not only inspired Chris and lots of others, but also drew a map that led Chris down the path of Purpose Driven Life. Now he's sharing the journey of his family, including the challenges they faced and the valuable lessons they learned to help show each of us how to find the good within each day. Welcome Chris. How are you?
I'm great. Thank you, Joy. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited
to have you. Do you prefer Christopher or Chris? I should ask,
gosh, you know, I don't know. I get both, you know, kind of, my parents used to call me Chrissy, so I, you know, yeah, that's kind of funny, but don't call me that. Chris is fine. Chris is fine.
We are here to talk about lots of things, but among them, your book. It's such an incredible story, and I'm so excited that you're gonna share it with us. What's good about today, a purpose driven life, is the title of the book. What inspired you to write this book, and what's the purpose of it for you?
Sure. Well, obviously, I'm inspired. By my son, Christian, it's not something I'd rather not be on the podcast or doing any of this right? My regular life, you know, four years ago, was changed upside down, right? I was put in a situation, as my family was, and Christian, that he was hit with a terminal diagnosis, and that really what put us on this track of a year of just trying to save Christian's life? Yeah, and I put all my energy 24/7 I was running a company. I'm trying to do so many different things, keep our family together, unified and knowing, ultimately, I knew the outcome that was going to come down the path. I knew what the diagnosis was. Christian had something called cholangiocarcinoma. It's called, it's bio duct cancer. I remember when they told me what it was I had. I didn't know what that were. I couldn't spell it. I didn't know what was going on and but when you do your research, you realize this is a less than 2% chance of living. I knew that, interestingly enough, that children who get this, which is rare, it's an old person's type of cancer. It's also something you see in Southeast Asia, that for whatever reason, kids who get it, young adults, they go, they pass away quicker. And I think it just has to do with their metabolism. So, you know, as we went through that process, and to answer your question, in terms of inspiration, I only had that probably about a year and a half after a Christian had passed, I felt that nudge. You know that, that that feeling you get, and I know you're big on spirituality, and I am too, and and Christian was too. I'm sure, if you read that in the book, he Yeah, he loved spirituality, loved all faiths. He took everything in. And I talk about that in the book, and I think that's where I felt that nudge, that's where I felt that feeling that I had to get the story out. One is, of course, it's cathartic for myself. It helps me to try to live a purpose driven life. It's also to demonstrate a roadmap that Christian left us, that if we were to read this and to apply a lot of the things, we can also lead a purposely driven life. And I felt it just absolutely essential for the rest of my life to be doing that. I you know, again, I run companies. I sit on the board for companies. Nothing brings me more passion that I get to speak to individuals, even if it's one person that's fine, if I can put this in there, then and they make some changes, and they look at the world differently then I've done I'm doing my part, and so that's what inspires me. That's why I wrote the book. It's important to show my heart, full heart, because so much of that is lost in today's world is, is your heart, and I want to be able to deliver that. And I love, I love talking about Christian, you know, I Christians here. So I think of Christian in the present tense. I never think of that. He's gone. He's right around the corner, you know. And he tells me, Dad, I'm right around the corner, and life is very short, so I want to make the most of the time that I have, and I think that that's putting this out there to help as many people as I can.
What a beautiful sentiment. I'm sorry for your loss, but like you said, Christian's here. He's He's continuing on. It's beautiful the way that you share about his life and who he is. Obviously, read the book everyone. We won't be able to fully give it justice today, but he really is a soul who touches so many people, just in the personality of who he is just in the essence of his soul. And really did have deep, not only compassion for other people, but deep faith, and broader than the limitations sometimes put on faith, which for I have kids in their 20s, and for a kid that age is incredible in and of itself, you must be so proud of him as a dad also,
oh, I am, among other things.
Yeah, I'm
incredibly proud of him. I mean, there's obviously, before all this, I was a doting dad, you know, he was a very talented kid. He was in he's an actor and but what I saw was important was when he came off stage, he was extremely humbled, caring and loving. Loved his family so much we loved him. Christian was the center stone of the family, right? It's not myself. It was Christian and I have two other children. They're beautiful souls. Christian was just unique, as you probably read. So he just he, he embodied that. He was an old soul, right to your point, which is, it's like he had lived many different lives, and he was so welcoming of so many people, and inclusive and of faith and people of all of all sorts. And so I hope that comes through in the book.
It really does. I think you did a beautiful job. And. One of the other things I want to share with everyone about the book is it's not just from your perspective, your wife, Danielle, Christian's mom, his girlfriend Rachel, have have woven into the book their perspective, their journal entries, their you know, thoughts and experience with Christian when you say you, after you know your initial grieving period, and you start to feel this nudge to share Christian with the world in this way. Do you feel like it's your soul nudging you? Do you feel like Christian's nudging you? I know he's such a he's such a spirited cheerleader for everyone in his life. So yeah, for a lot of so curious.
Yeah, I I tell you this that Christian. I talked to Christian, quite off. I talked to Christian, but I hear Christian. I can hear him talking to me, and it's him. I know it's him, because there's certain ways that he speaks to me, and we have these conversations. People probably, you know, if people saw me somewhere, they probably think I was crazy, because sometimes I'm just verbally having a conversation, and he's telling me things. Sometimes it's usually if I talk too much about him. You know, he's like dad, enough, enough. You know, you don't have to do that, but, you know, it is also guidance in this world. I ask for protection, but I also ask, I ask questions. I ask questions all the time. Why you why this? Why? Where are we going? What's happening next? Because this cannot be it. And so I try to tap into that as much as possible. And I've heard that from other people, and I do talk about in the book too, right? Others who have experienced this, this connection, the Christian from a spiritual world, right? And it's hard to understand, I think, unless you've gone through it, but I've certainly have felt it and dealt with it, and they're very vivid. They're extremely vivid. And I think I'm privileged. My my wife, doesn't have that connection. I don't know why. That's the reason I think that some people like yourself, you know, you have certain connections that allow us to tap into things that are outside of maybe normal. And I think I have that. I just think I've always kind of had that connection, which is
really cool. I mean, it's an interesting thing, and our listeners and our audience, our community, typically either people that have lost someone close to them, and certainly are open minded and curious about how our connection works with those that have already crossed over, that we still feel and sense and know so, so curious for you when you're having these wonderful conversations with Christian, and I know you talk about in the book, he's come to friends in dreams, and he's he has this really lovely way of validating his presence still for people, and is it essentially, I just the wording for me, as long as You know me, you'll hear me complain about this. I always say this, the wording is not quite right for these experiences for me, because sometimes, especially when we're like, deeply grieving someone we care about and someone says, Oh, I hear them. People think, oh, it's like a disincarnate voice next to you talking in your ear for you, is it more just mental, like you hear the memory of his voice internally, and then you're having this conversation? How do you actually experience it?
It's a really good that's a great question. I've had anyone ask me. No, I hear it not in memory of his I hear him actually having a conversation with me, you know? And when I say that, I mean, there's times where I'll call on Christian and he's not available to me, whereas, like Christian, I need to talk to you. I'm having some challenges, and he won't show up. He just he and but he will eventually show up, and he'll say, Dad, what do you need? And I'm kind of busy. It's always, he's so busy, get out interesting that is. But I, you know, I asked him the specific questions, but it is a voice. It is, I hear him. Maybe I'm going crazy, I don't know, but I don't think you're going crazy. Okay, good to know from the professional so. But I, yeah, it's, it's, I feel his voice. I can, I can hear every word of it. You know, it's not when you know, it's not these long, drawn out, long discussions. You know, they're, sometimes they're quick, sometimes they're they're deep in meaning, and sometimes it's just for me understand what the next life looks like, and how to how does time work? And how does you know little things work in the next life? So that I have some insight. Sometimes it's a bit convoluted and understandably and sometimes he won't answer my question that it's not easy for him to answer because it's too difficult to explain. So yes, yeah,
I've had that as well, where it's essentially like your our human mind is not going to have the capacity to grasp the depth of what's happening. Now, one of the incredible things, another thing I love about the book is you share so much about who Christian is. It's, it's yes, you talk about his illness and how difficult that was and that process. But you also talk about who he is, and like we were talking about his depth of faith, his kind of more open minded, bird's eye perspective of things. What has he shared with you about what's going on over there on the other side and how time works? I need to know,
well, I don't think again. It's things that I think you may have heard, right? Christian is, as I've told you, it's right around the corner, dad, you know you're not it's not that far now, that gets into how time works, right? And so I know this is nothing that I'm making up, but of course, it's difficult to explain time in the next dimension that it a day that we that's there is, is our entire lifetime, right? So there's a lot compact into that time. Um, you know, it's sometimes I ask silly questions. I ask questions like, How do you do you still watch football? Do you still can you go fishing? Can you do all these things that, as a dad, I want to do. And so he does tell me those are things you will be able to do, and you can go anywhere you want to go. And to me, he my Christian loves space too. And yeah, the stars and the moons, and do you get to travel? And the answer is yes, you know, he's explained that he can go anywhere you want, in space. You can go to different places. And I've also asked him these deep questions, like, Who do you meet? You know, I'm always like, Oh, is it to meet someone famous? It's someone and Christian's like, now, I don't have famous friends, you know, it's, it's, it's people in history, because Christian loves history. It's just people in history that you've probably never heard of, but I am friends with those kinds of individuals. While
reading the book, I can imagine that he's got a whole round table of philosophers and artists and probably literary scholars. He was funny, yeah, you know he's he studied in India. He studied him. He really was just such a bright light. I think to everyone that he touches. I also love that you got letters and calls and, I guess, emails these days from, you know, nurses or people that he had just briefly come in contact with. And I think as a parent, that must feel so valuable just to hear someone outside perspective of him. Yeah,
it does. I you go through this process, and you know, I knew Christian had an impact on so many people. I knew that he just the moments he would spend with someone would, it's incredible. They would. He's very memorable. But I couldn't imagine the amount of people that have come to me through letters, through calls. And I do talk about that in the book. Specifically, you talk about it. There are multiple nurses that have talked to me about this, but one in particular was at the Cleveland Clinic where she her job was to take patients to different parts of wings of the hospital, and her only job was to wheel them, and her job was to comfort them, because she knew they were going through difficult things. And as I explained in there, she wrote me, she actually she called me, and she explained to me she was breaking protocol because she not supposed to call patient's parents, you know, and she didn't want to have her name. And she said I wanted to explain what he did. And I said, Please tell me. And she said, I'm supposed to take care of him, tell him how to feel and make him feel good. He turned everything around and made me feel good he he didn't owe me anything, but he gave me everything. I remember that when she said that he gave me everything, and it was just him wanting to know about her life. He wanted to give her hope and let her know that she was special, and that's incredible, that someone who was dying was able to keep, keep be capable of showing this strength, that it's not about me, it's about you, and that's what he did, and I talk about that a lot in the book, and how that affected a lot of people. So some people have come to me who've met Christian for five minutes, and tell me stories that are extraordinary, and they are remarkable.
There are so many really remarkable stories about him from, you know, the I think it's your friend group, the friend group who makes him the really cool shoes in the hospital that he really comforted and count. I mean, he's a natural counselor. Clearly. Right? So it's getting to see that perspective of him is is just really special. So thank you for sharing that with the world. The other thing with Christian though, is I feel like the way that you all describe it in your own ways, he sometimes just comes out with these really profound little nuggets of either hope or joy or perspective, and one of those that really becomes the mantra for not only your family, but ultimately this research and development movement that you're creating is the what's good about today. Will you share a little bit more about how that comes up and and how you're using it now? Yeah.
So Christian, when he was given the terminal diagnosis, this was during covid, right, right? As covid was starting, you can only have one parent. I went in with Christian. I'm not going to go through the process of we did blood tests, and ultimately they found something. We were sent to the Hillman Cancer Institute. I reassured Christian, hey, it's not going to be a problem. Everything's gonna be fine. My his mother was at home. I said, hey, everything's gonna be fine, you know, because that's I want to everything's gonna be fine. I really believe you do as a parent, right? Too, yeah. But I really believed in, I mean, Christian had such a superpower as a human being, I thought there's no way something of anything bad could happen to this boy. He's too good. He's too perfect. He does everything the right way. Why would anyone want to take him away from this earthly being? So when I went there they you know, I knew when they walked in, they had the mask, and I could see in their eyes. There were five lab coats walked in, and they basically told Christian to take off his shirt. They said he had a grapefruit sized tumor on his his liver, and it was terminal. And Christian, I remember this because I started to fade, I started to black out, and I was going to fall. Christian kind of grabbed me and set me down, his hand on my shoulder. He said, Dad, everything's going to be fine, as if he already knew what was happening. He looked at those doctors and said, How much time do I have? They didn't answer them, but he knew. And I remember when we got home, my wife and I told her, I said, we said to Christian, Christian, we're so sorry. We're so sorry that you have to serve you have this burden placed upon you. But he said to us, he said, Dad, Mom, I wouldn't want this on anyone else. This is my burden. I will take this. It's it's fine. And not a single day from the day he was diagnosed to the moment that he took his last breath. Did he ever complain one time? He never said, what was me? Never said, Why me, dad? Why would God do this to me? He had every right to I know I would have. I I'm not that strong. And he he didn't. And so every day, when we would cry and seem like every day and pray, he would remind us. He'd say, Guys, what's good about today? And it was his daily reminder that you can find beauty, you can find goodness, you can find all kinds of wonderful things in this world every single day, even in the worst of moments. And there were bad moments. But he always said, No, look what we did earlier today. We laughed together while we watched that movie. As a family, Dad, we took that walk together. You remember, the sun was shining on our faces. He was able to boil it down to the smallest of things at 22 years of age, with the maturity of someone who's probably 400 years old, if there was ever existence of that, he just understood life so differently, and so the book is, is because of what he said to us, what's good about today to remind us of the goodness that you can find every single day,
which is so incredible. Do you have? I mean, obviously there's a gratitude practice that is the underpinning of this and and noticing those small bones, the big moments, there's always something to be grateful for, which is kind of incredible in and of itself. I don't know if any parent in that situation is immediately going to okay, what are the good things about today? So that's pretty one of the many incredible gifts that He gives everyone along the way, do you have more of a formal gratitude practice that you practice these days yourself?
I do. I follow Christian's path, right? Christian always had, and I mentioned this, and he didn't have a to do list. So much of us have to do list checklists, right? Christian had a to love list. So, you know my regimen, and I think that's what you're asking, which is I, I'm pretty regimented. I wake up, I asked for, for the the shield of God, to give me for the day, to give me the strength to do good things, right, to be a positive influence on others. Be a good husband, be a good father. Be. Good friend and you know, and make sure that I'm out there helping those who are challenged by daily struggles. And I it's it makes me, it hits me very deeply when I know that those who are going through despair, those who are going through difficult times, those who have lost loved ones, obviously, those who have lost children. It's, it's so deep, it sticks to you. I know those parents who are listening who have lost a child. It's, it's just like something you can't get off yourself, and you don't know how to move forward. You don't know how to get to the next step. You know how to wake up every day. And it's not easy. I'm not here to say that it's easy. It wasn't easy for me, but I did realize a couple things. One, I have humility, and I want to always show that I'm humbled to God. Number one. Number two, you're not in control. And I think that that is the burden that I released for myself, that I learned that I'm not in control. I'm really not in control. I've always thought I was in control. I thought I could control how things worked. I thought I could solve Christian's illness. I could, you know, but I'm not, you know, all I can do is the best I can do. I want to, every day, get up and do the right things for others, and so that's that's where I put on my effort. And I've learned that from Christian very much. It's incredible
that he gives so many lessons, and it's like he packs so much into the lifetime that he has this go around, which is pretty incredible. So I love that you've taken. I'm sure there's nuggets of it that we keep just for ourselves as the family, but we've taken, you know, the this beautiful sentiment, such a simple thing. What's good about today? Because even in our hardest moments, you know, maybe it's hot water, yeah,
yeah. It could be anything. You're right? I it sometimes it's the goofiest things, right? It just, we all have bad days, and there are so many people who, of course, deal with, again, you know, pain in suffering two different things, but I mean people experience in different ways. I've interacted with so many people come to me and for their their challenges on me, and I've had to ask for help. You know, I go to someone to say, you know, what do I do about this? You know, I feel like I'm taking on a lot, and they're like, no, no, no, listen, just give it up to God. You know, you're okay. You can take this. God's gonna give you what he's gonna give you. So I do do that. It's, it's part of, I think suffering for all of us is a means to get us closer to God. If that makes sense, yeah, I think it's just part of the the earthly process and human experience. And I think it's the other thing that's important is that we understand about time. You know, it's not about the time we live. It's really the depth of experiences that we go through.
And I guess for each of us, are we going to cultivate that or not? There's so many beautiful lessons we can take from Christian because clearly, he lived every moment of his life to the fullest. You you share it in the book, that even even in the depths of his illness, he's applying for an online job and deciding to, like, I was thinking, like, did he put that, like, on his application? Like, I currently, you know, I'm undergoing cancer treatment, but I'm a really good employee. Like, how incredible. And then he also applies for his master's and gives this incredible, is it a dissertation? Yes, incredible talk that's just and has this attitude. You said it earlier, how he never said, Why me? Actually, in the book, you talk about how he said, Well, why not me? It could be, why not me? Why should it be somebody else? Right?
That's true. Um, my daughter actually asked that question too. Well, I asked the question, and my daughter said, Why? Why not Christian. It makes total sense. He was. He's extremely well known around our area and in Pittsburgh. We're from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He just was. He'd had just he exuded positivity. So, yeah, you're right. He he never stopped living. That's the thing. You know. Christian didn't stop. As a matter of fact, when you said he was getting a job, he actually did that. This is, I know, I tried to tell him, he because he has this. He likes to make people feel good. He never wants them to feel unhappy. But he sat in his he had just been given the terminal diagnosis, he had been offered a job. And I said, Christine, don't need that job. He said, No, Dad, I want to take that job. I want to I owe a responsibility to that. And he literally, from his bed, was talking to his future boss and explained. He says, Listen, I want you to know this is what's happened to me. I've been given and God bless that, that that boss. But I want to work. I want, I want to contribute. And he didn't. He took a full time job for ADP, and he worked, you know, for four or five months until, you know, the disease really started to take a toll on him, yeah, but he never stopped making music. He did a podcast with his sister. He he just any and like you said, he applied to university. He went out and looked for an apartment at the university. Yeah, he went with his roommate. Whenever he sigh of the the I still have the videos, he's like, Dad, check out my apartment. I mean, he was, he knew what was going to happen, but he never wanted to stop believing. He loved life so much. He loved it. He loved it. And he never stopped believing. He couldn't, couldn't get there. You know, was
that a tough balance for you? I mean, I keep seeing both perspectives because you did such a beautiful job, and even some of his own words are in the book. So we really get to feel like we know him a little bit, and I
don't know that's what I wanted.
Media my night, I sat with him a little bit earlier, so I feel like I know I'm a little extra. Was it really tough as a parent to find that balance of like, I want to support my son in all of this energetic pursuit and love that he's exuding into the world, and also I want to tell him to like rest and take care of himself and to impose the worry almost, is that a tough balance?
Yes. Tough balance as a parent, most of it's driven by Christian, because Christian wanted to show and lead by example to his brother and sister, yeah. And he wanted to show that you can, even in difficult things, you can continue to move forward as a parent, very difficult, right? I remember distinctly. I don't even think this is in the book, but Christian had a conference call, a business meeting at like, 11 o'clock conference call, and we had a doctor's appointment, which was a trial to save his life. This is all per he's like, Dad, I can't, I can't, I have a conference going Christian, I go, son, this is really important, you know, this stuff's so important, you know? And he's like, Well, okay, he's like, that was how he was, like, all right, if you think it's right that I'll go, I don't like to let people down. I'll let them know. But, you know, yeah, it's, it's a balancing act at the same time. I love that he was a forward thinking guy, yeah? And I also, as a dad, wanted him to feel that way. I wanted him to enjoy the the things that we do in life, you know? I didn't want it to be this, day in, day out, that, okay, we're just waiting for the ticking clock, right? It's just a ticking clock. That's I knew. I don't think my wife knew this. I knew Christian wasn't going to be around very long. I knew what was going to happen. I never said this is what's going to happen, because I knew my wife that would be too much to handle at this point. So I kept a lot of that inside myself and my other kids, you know that we're going to be okay, you know, and we are okay, but you know Christian, yeah, that's he is a balancing act as a parent. It's difficult for my wife too, you know. And you weigh that out during the process of what's at best at what time and and I think we did the right thing. I hope so.
I think, I mean, you had so many open conversations with him as the other one of the other things you talk about, I mean, you detail that he he was really we wanted to know where his, his celebration of life, was going to be. And you tell him about that, and you, you as a dad, have these really profound, so difficult but important. Conversations with him about that period, how do you find the strength to do that? I mean, I guess sometimes, as a parent, you have to do something really tough because you know it's needed. And what were the types of things that he was wondering about or that you were able to share with him to comfort him in that time?
Yeah, that one's a tough one.
Yeah, they're not the kind of conversations you want to have with your 22 year old. You want to have. What's Where are you going to live? What's going on with your girlfriend? Yeah, what's your first you know? What's going on at your job? And stop parking the
car in the driveway, yeah,
exactly. Take out the trash,
yeah. But Christian appreciated that we did have these conversations. I remember, I distinctly talk about that in the book. We went on walks, and one particular walk, Christian said, you know, Dad, you know, I remember just saying, Christian, you know, what can I do for you? What, what? You know, he's like, I that I'm not going to be here long, but I really, I want there to be. That's why a lot of the foundations are set up. Because Christian had said, Look, I would love after I'm gone, to do good things for for others. Let's set up a foundation. Education. And of course, those are things I said, Absolutely. He said, you know, can I get my memorial? Can I it's Saint Stanislaw. It's an old Polish church down in Pittsburgh. It's a Catholic church. It's one of the oldest churches in Pittsburgh. And as a matter of fact, those who were from Pittsburgh, or if you're visiting Pittsburgh, if you go, it's one of the busiest streets in Pittsburgh, on Smallman street. But right next to the church on the busiest street is this memorial garden, and has rocks, bubbling rocks and and a plaque of Christian's face and his story, right? It's the what's good about he has a bench song. He does have a bench there. It's okay. It's a giant rock. You know, there's rocks and boulders and water coming through. They're absolutely gorgeous. He wanted to make sure we gave back to the church so that people could reflect, and that's been something he wanted. I'll tell you. You know we didn't at the time. You know Christian past, you know you're working diligently as a parent to put together a memorial like, how do you do this? Your mind's just not there. But it was really important that we do it this way, because he asked us to, and I did give his eulogy, you know, and that was tough, but I didn't, you know, I found this. This is the thing. Christian spirit actually came through me. I talk about that in the book, I had an out of body experience. It was truly not me. I know it wasn't me. It was almost the actor of Christian. I could be able to put something out there, say it without crying, which is, I don't know how I did that, but I remembered everybody at that service. There were almost 1000 people at that service for this boy. And I knew everybody. I knew everybody, his friends that he made told me about long time ago. I just knew their names. I don't know how I pulled their names out, but I do believe it was just Christian giving me the strength to understand these things. I'm horrible at names. I am the worst at names, but some reason, I was able to do that. But yeah, we Krishna had deep conversations about what was going to happen next and in the next life. And I asked him specifically. I asked him to promise me that he would come back and visit me when he passed. And he said, Absolutely, Dad, I promise you I will do that. And of course, he did.
Clearly he has, yeah, more ways than one, lots of lots of different ways. He gets hellos to you, sometimes through, like, once removed people. It seems like yeah,
and he did come to me, and I talk about that in the book, and that's a whole different thing. But yeah, I met Christian in a different realm, and it was extraordinary, very real. I
love that you shared about that, because that's it's such an elusive experience. In my work, we call it a visitation. It's different than a dream. It happens typically in the sleep state, but it's different than a dream in that it's, I don't want to sound even condescending in the way I'm saying this, but it's real. It's real. It's different than a dream, because it's real. It's a, yeah, it's a real experience. Will you share just a little bit about that experience? Absolutely
joy. And you're right. You hit the nail on the head. It's it's difficult to explain unless you've gone been through this, but I had some signs that had happened previously. But this one in particular, I was in the state you would think I was sleeping. I know the difference between a dream and I know the difference. I can't tell you any dream I've ever had. They're always wacky, and I'm all over the place, and
we're producing our day in those dreams, right? Yeah, exactly. She's on TV a cat wearing a baseball hat, yeah, right.
They're always goofy, and I can never explain them, but this was his very vivid. What happened is, I was, I believe, transported. I was put in the basement. I remember this because I sat in the basement. Remember the singer cinder blocks. I remember looking out the door. It was a sliding door, white trim, very green. Outside, beautiful. Outside. There was a little patio, and I went, Oh my gosh, I'm in somebody's house. I gotta get the heck out. Why I'm in somebody's house. And I got immediately put up into a foyer. And the foyer, I was looking at a door, and this door was one of those old 1970s doors. It had three rectangulars in different levels, almost like stairs, you know. And I couldn't see out those and I was like, Oh, where am I? And I turned, and I was in a it was a living room, and there was a park of floor, sort of, you know, I couldn't tell the floor too much. There were two seats in front of me that swiveled. There were shadowy figures. I wouldn't be able to tell you who they were. The only clear vision I saw was Christian by a mantle. His beautiful, curly hair. He had this he has this smile. That's how it's so unique and beautiful. It's almost like told you I'd be back and and there he was everything, and I saw there was also a in the distance, not far. It was like an you step. Up into a kitchen, and there were people mulling around, all shadow aid. I couldn't tell you who it was, but it looked like I was at a dinner party. Yeah, and in my mind, I think I was at his apartment, or was it someone else's apartment? I never you know knew that, but as soon as I saw him, I was like Christian, and he immediately came into my arms. It was instantaneous. And we hugged, and he said, Dad, I love you. Tell Mom, I love her. And he said, tell her, everything is fine. I'm happy. Everything is good. You guys need to go about you need to move forward, right? And I didn't see lips. I could just hear him, and I could smell him. I could feel him. He was as real as I am here talking to you, and I remember just stepping back and smiling, and it faded out, but I was kind of in and out, as she said, I wasn't like asleep. I went, Oh my goodness. And I waited for an hour because my wife was next to me sleeping, and when she woke up an hour later, I told her exactly what had happened, and she explained to me, she says, Chris, last night, I went out into the stars, and I prayed to Christian to please give us something, anything to come to cross, to talk. And so she didn't tell me that, and that's what happened. And it was I, I've asked Christian to come see many times since I haven't gotten to see her. So you know, it's not like, you know, I wish for it, trust me, I I'm like, Christian, can I see you tonight? And he hasn't, but that, I feel like he had the special permission slip, you know, to be able to allow me an opportunity to come to have closure for that. And I thought that was, it was pretty extraordinary, and it's
always fascinating to me, because there's so many similarities people have in these types of experiences with the conveying of information, with not a moving mouth talking, but the communications there, the thoughts are the words are there, the the love is there, and so real, like profoundly in a sensory way, real and peaceful, not scary. That's the other thing. Sometimes, when we say, like, we saw shadowy figures, people think, like, Oh, scary. Like, not scary at all, right? Not
at all. Yeah, I felt, I felt a lot of bright light and warmth and love. That's to your point, is I the amount of love I felt was extraordinary, yeah, yeah.
And it's a, I mean, obviously I've had a different experience, because we're not the same person, but, but it's a, it's almost a level or a degree of love that is hard to express into words, right, right, really profound. Yeah, there's a purity to it or something. Yeah? Well, there's
no earthly terms for this, right, right, limited in our earthly words. And the dictionary, agape love is probably the deepest, right? That's the Greek for the deepest of love. And so I guess that's what it was, because it felt, it felt different. It felt, yeah, so deep and unique that can't explain it here on Earth, it's very it's very difficult. You know, I mean the love of children, the love of seeing your firstborn when they come out, your children, all those things that that that thing, it just, it hits your heart so deep, you know, you feel it. It's tight in the chest. So, yeah, of course.
And what a special like perfect moment, not only because, you know, his mom, Danielle, had, had spoken to him. Would you include that part in the book? I think it might be even from her perspective, in that piece of it, and then that's, it's so healing in that moment for you guys, because then you decide, like, Okay, we need to take a trip, right? We need to, we need to, like, do what Christian says and and do something that feels a little bit relieving for us. And then I'll, I won't ask you to share, because it's in the book. But then another dream happens for some another dream happens
for someone else, yeah, which isn't, it wasn't with me. It was the person we went with who we didn't even know. And that's the once removed person that, Oh, is that I don't even know? These is, well, no meaning like
that. That person is once removed from you. They're not family member. They're not they're like, one removed, and you're just a friend, yeah, guys, really, yeah, it's,
it's like, the wife of a friend, yeah, it's, yeah, it's
really, how incredible, yeah, I mean, it's, it's the spirit world never ceases to amaze me and our loved ones and what they can do. And I think, you know, like you said, Christian continues to, with His love, with his intentions, almost propel you forward. And you mentioned it a little bit earlier, one of the things that you are doing that he, I think he helped you start to create the foundation, right, and the way the research was being done, and all of that, am I right? He was in the initial parts of getting that rolling. Yeah.
So Christian, before he passed, there's a lot of things that Christian wanted us to, you know, obviously the memorial, he wanted us to create a foundation that took care of, you know, stuck to the mission, right? It's a Christian Cochran Legacy Fund. It's through the Pittsburgh foundation that's been around for 100 years. I think it's, we're. Irreparable. It's not something I want to manage a foundation, and it ultimately, you know, that was done while Christian was still alive, setting that up because we knew, at least I knew it was happening, and I wanted to get ahead of things. I just it was also a way, you know, I say this when people go through grief and they're going through difficult times. I was just trying to stay busy too. You know, there was a point in which there was nothing else we could do but palliative care, right for Christian. Christian passed away inside our house with us around him, surrounded by him. And I do talk about this, you know, he had doctors which you never see. Doctors show up at homes. You know, this one doctor. She's beautiful person. You know, she wanted to be close to Christian. And I remember saying, she said, When Christian Pat said, Christian taught us how to live and he taught us how to die, he did it the way you're supposed to do it. And he did he in in the 23 years. It's amazing, but yeah, he, he wanted us to make sure we set up a foundation to help those who were less fortunate, those who, you know, children who were in in the arts, help animals. He loved animals. We had three dogs, so he loved them. He wanted us to make sure that we set up a scholarship fund, which we had done, and so we continue to do that. That's it's something that we just recently had his trail walk, which we do every year, which is a nature walk. It's open to everybody. There's no we don't even, we don't ask for donations. We just want people to come and enjoy the day. It's on us. Just take your families, enjoy the day. Go for a walk through the woods, look at the beauty around you every single day, put your cell phones away and just realize what's most important to you. And that's what, yeah, be present, exactly. So Christian did that. He made sure we set those things up. And
it's pretty incredible, because, I mean, it's a testament, I think, to what a special person he is is he had learned that this very rare type of cancer that he had is more common in Asia and children, and wanted to help to get, you know, people that didn't have the resources or didn't have access to that type of medical care. So that's part of what one of the foundations does right is that research? Will you talk a little bit about that? In case people want to find it or support it, or so we can put the word out there about it? Yeah,
so Christian cochrane.org, even if you put in Christian Cochran and Google, you'll probably pull up a lot of stuff on Christian. But, yeah, you make make a point. Christian felt like he was a very he was a privileged boy. He had the best care. He had the best doctors around the world, and he always felt guilty about that. You know? He felt like it was a he even quoted in his thing when he wrote was as a crime against him, yet humanity, right? He He wanted to spend the rest of his life, if he survived, was to help those who were dying of this disease left alone in parts of the world, specifically Asia. He wanted the ability even traveled to those areas to make sure those people weren't alone. So many people die alone. So many people die of horrible things. And I think he just said, Look, you know, if I survive this, dad, I this is what I want to do. I want to help those and so part of the mission, of course, is to make sure that we honor that mission and support anything that involves those who are suffering and going through difficult times. And so we do that through I think I taught we have a partnership with Yasu. It's young adult survivors united. A lot of young adults who have no access to good health care, who do not have the support of parents that Christian had. We give away gift bags every month that are filled with goodies, gift cards, you know, essential items, and just be there to help in any way we can, because that's a segment of population young adults who are, you know, look, they just, they're coming out on their own. They just either graduated, they they're away from their parents. And so we feel like, you know, that's an underserved area. And so that's another area Christian was passionate about, is helping other young adults who are going through difficult things like this. And
that's one of the cool things about the book, is like, as you're reading it, it's like, okay, he's like a normal kid, and he's into, like, vintagey stuff, and you're reading it, it's like, oh, and he's an actor, and he does this, and he studied here, and he, I mean, he it just profound, the amount of not only like interests, but successful pursuits. Yeah, at such a young age, which is pretty incredible. What practical advice or tips or tricks have you found that you can give people that are struggling or deep in grief? I feel like it's so tough to give people grief advice, but. Everyone so desperately wants it. It's
the most difficult, right? And there's no one way to do it, of course. Well, I talk about this quite extensively. It's not complicated, right, but the act of pausing, right? And I talk about that in the book, the profound impact that you take moments of pause and reflection can have a profound effect on how you react to things. They can affect you, how you look at the world around you, how you perceive the world around you. And pausing really allows you to meet life with grace. You see beyond pain, you find gratitude in the present. We talk about the present, it becomes really a valuable gift, and it offers you a space to breathe, feel, feel deeply and connect with you know, your essence of being for all intents and purposes. And I really, I truly believe us. I think it's in the pauses. It's in the pauses we really discover the resilience, the strength and the rekindling of joy you can have in life. And I think, you know, there's a lot you can take from the book. There's a lot of different you know, I make a point at the end of every chapter, yeah, to give people takeaways, right? To reflect back on that chapter and say, here are some takeaways that I've written about. By the way, all Christian. I'm just, I always say Christian was an actor, right? And I think that he's, he's like, the main actor. He always was. He was always the lead in every musical and play. And this kid was the prom king. His kid was amazing. I'm like, the guy in the back is the palm tree, and I got the role as the palm tree. And just like, I'm like, I'm like, I get to watch everything. So the book is to me as a way of just, I'm I'm looking at Christian I'm telling the story as I saw it and what I witnessed. And you know, it's not my thoughts. These are Christians. It's inspired by Christian that I put it out there, and the things I saw that I want to make. And again, it's a roadmap. It's an opportunity for those who are struggling. I think grief is is so profound and difficult for everybody in different forms.
Would you say
for those that have lost someone, whether it's a child or just someone really close to them, and they're they're looking at at you and how, you know, through Christian's inspiration, you've done all these amazing things, and they're feeling like, well, I want to do things to honor my loved one, but I don't know where to start. Where would you tell them to I mean, I think from the book, it's like, look to the example of the life your loved one LED, and what torch Can you carry on for them? Is that, is that the place to start? What's your perspective?
Um, yeah, I think it is. I mean, it's, it's looking and reflecting back on that person, what they loved, right? It is. And I go, pauses, pause. Think about these things, the things that they love, the things that they were passionate about, things that they cared about. They're tough though. You know it weighs on you deeply. You know I still struggle. I'm not going to sit here and tell someone that I don't struggle. I do, and I would not be authentic in telling you that every day I don't have struggles that I don't reflect back. I do something that I think is useful and probably think I'm crazy, but I karate chop. I actually, literally use my hands if people can see me. I karate chop my my mind sometimes, so when my mind reflects back on difficult things that I saw, witnessed, the difficult things. I karate chop it. Chris, karate chop, stop. You know, because I can go down a path, and we all can go down those paths that are difficult, and I think it's important to cut that off. But I think people can reflect on what was important to their loved one, what they cared about, and put it back into the works that you do to others, because in the end of the day, that's, that's really what we're all here to do, right? It's, it's simple, it's the heart. I mean, so much of us leap, we leap from the brain, right? We forget about the bottom half of our body, and we've disconnected the brain from the heart, and I think the more we can tap into our heart, the more we can tap into the heart of the ones we love, then the more we can do good for others. And gosh, it is such a good feeling. It's i People are like, Oh, you, you did such a nice thing. I'm like, no, no, you did something for me, you have no idea when you do something good for others. It, it, it helps your heart a little bit, you know? Yeah, because when you lose someone so tight to you, it's, it feels like your your chest is your heart's been ripped out of your chest, and so you're just trying to piece it back together with pockets of joy. Just find pockets of joy in your day. So. And I think that's how you navigate. You know, sometimes in this world,
that's beautifully said. Thank you for being so open and sharing that with us. I'll tell you the karate chop thing's not crazy. Oh, it's not Reiki in energy healing there, there is actually it looks a little bit more like a lightning bolt, but it's essentially a chop to break the energy when you're, you know, either moving in an energetic direction, or, you know, if you've just left someone's space that you're just want to break and be back in your own energy. So it's a real thing.
Well, you should see how people react when I'm in the car driving. They look over so they're like, Oh, I better stay away from that guy. I'm driving over here. So funny.
Hey, whatever works, I guess, right, yeah, we will, of course link the website and the foundation and all the touch points for you, and, of course, the book, what's good about today, a purpose driven life and where everyone can get that, which is very exciting. You have also graciously agreed to our spirit Speed Round, which is a fun thing we do here. I bet you forgot that. You know, I forgot all this far.
I haven't forgotten. It's in there, in the back of my brain. I'm just waiting, by the way, so everyone who knows who's listening, I have no idea what's coming. So I love that, yes, I love that that's
always the that's, that's the tradition. It's, they're not hard questions, and you could pass on any and you can pass on any
of them. And so I'm blonde, so you're right. Take it slow for me.
You also don't have to be speedy, so don't feel pressured. It's good. Will you share one thing that was really shocking to you or was unexpected about your life with Christian
one thing that was unexpected. I'm
sure there's a lot of things that are unexpected about having such an amazing son.
I think his humbleness, yeah. I mean, I think he had every I think when you see someone who is out there performing at a level of Christian was, I mean, he had been in a movie, he he was on the right track, right he was, he was he, we always knew he was going to be a star. Everybody, if you asked anybody, this guy was going to be a star, because he was very likable. He had a he had his right head on his shoulders. I think just the fact that he was so humbled and his heart was so big, that's two things. But yeah, yeah, I just, I was always enamored. I'm such a I loved watching him interact with people that I love. I do that today. I watch people today, and I look at people, not as people. I look at them as souls. I i Go what, I wonder, what their life is like, you know, and I think about that and, and I try to imagine they're holding their child's hand and what that life is like. And I'm sure it's wonderful, and, but it So, but, but for Krishna, I learned to be, you know, the humbleness of him and how beautiful that was, and how he he navigated the world.
Yeah, and it seems like it's, it's one of the things that he always comes back to, in the way that you all talk about him in the book, is he always comes back to, like, No, I don't need recognition for that. Or no, I don't need to
tell I actually now i feel i There is another thing. It's the big one that's okay. He was, he was a no judgment guy. So it's rare that in this world you can find someone who doesn't judge others, right? It's a difficult task. We judge each other, we look at other people, we make these judgments on people. Yeah, it's hard to imagine. You can meet somebody who didn't judge people, and he that was the way he was. I mean, I could judge somebody, he'd be that. No, they're, this is what they're This is why they do the things they do. They're good. He just, he loved it all, you know. And so I think no judgment. I'm trying to learn that better. Well, aren't we
all? I think we can all it's one of the really amazing things about the book is I think we can all take lots of lessons from Christian if you got to spend a day in the spirit world the other side. You got the full tour. You got to spend time with everyone you've ever known who's crossed over. It's almost time to return to your life, and your guide tells you you have one hour left, and you can spend it with anyone who's on the other side. Who do you choose?
Well, of course, it would be Christian, but I
thought, but I didn't want to take the question away from you.
No, no, I know that that's that's the obvious, but, you know, obviously I'm Christian, so obviously meeting Christ would be number one. I've got a lot of questions for him,
I'm sure. And Christian could be at the sit down too. It doesn't have to be exclusive,
right? Some are not. Some are, you know, look, I always say they're like, What's your relationship? It's a relationship, you know, like any other relationship. It can be good and it can be tough. I can have hard questions, but yeah, there'd be questions.
Yeah, absolutely. And it's, it's, yeah, we don't, we're definitely not going to understand all the things. So
that's what I meet with. Now, if it was famous, oh, I don't know,
maybe, maybe Napoleon, I don't know. Oh,
yeah, that'd be an interesting one.
Even though you've had these incredible experiences and this life, we're all human. What's one quirky thing about you that people might be surprised to learn. And then, what's one quirky thing about Christian that people might be surprised to learn? I'm gonna throw that one on. Well, I'll
go with Christian first. Okay, Christian, as you know, loved 80s. Christian collected Googie sweaters. I don't know if anybody remembers that. Do you know what a Googie sweater is? Yeah, okay, cool. Wasn't sure that was a big 80s thing. He collected Googie sweaters. I've got his, you know, his room is still the same as when he left it. I've got all these Googy sweaters. When he was sick, he had people sending him Googie sweaters. Wow, the kindness of their heart, you know. And so he collected that. So I think that's pretty quirky. Christian had a lot of quirky
things that is quirky, especially considering his age. Yeah,
he could wear the most crazy shirts. He was so authentic. He didn't care what you thought of him. He would wear a Googie sweater anywhere, and they'd be like, What are you wearing? That for
a quirky about me. Sheepers,
quirky about me, you know,
gosh, what is quirky about me?
I know it's you're put on the spot too, so it makes it hard. No, no,
that's okay. I, I think, and I don't like long pauses, because you have people listening like quirky. I love to just guess it's a little quirky. I love to just sit. I sit and I love to sit outside. I love to sit in nature. I think it's quirky, and I love the sun, so I tend to just like to sit. People can see me. I'm a little red, but I love to just sit in the sun and absolute peace and quiet. And it's, I guess it's quirky, but I mean peace, quiet, serenity. Using my ears to listen is probably quirky. I also like all kinds of music. So that's, that's I listen to quirky stuff. I like it, yeah? Quirky music, things that are outside the norm. I like really weird kind of quirky music.
I think that's cool, yeah? Good to have different experiences, right?
Absolutely.
Will you leave us with a pearl of wisdom? What's one piece of advice that you wish you had had earlier on in your grieving process and the process of Christian transitioning back to spirit?
Well, I think
I the the piece of wisdom I would give, or what I've learned during that process. You're saying,
um, both, either, yeah, um, I've,
I've, I've learned to take again. It says what's good about today. I've learned to take every day, specifically on the day. So this, this is how I function as a person. Now, as a human being, I used to look at I was such a fourth thinking. I'm thinking, Oh, what am I doing next week? What am I doing next month? How do I got to achieve this goal? How do I have to get this and I've eliminated all that in my life. I do not I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow. I swear to you, I have no idea. Like, I know I was meeting with you, it's all pop up on my calendar. No, I mean, I love you're the best. I just don't, but I don't do that because I don't want my mind to get nervous about what's in store for me the next day. Because all that I'm promised right now is what I have right now with you. I'm with you joy. We're together. I am guaranteed that right now, so when we leave, I'm not guaranteed that, nor are you. So I focus on what I can do today fully. So I try not to look back. I do, you know, but I do the karate chop, yeah? But I do not look forward. I focus on the day. And, you know, what do I have to do today? What do I have to achieve today? How do I make someone happy? How do I make someone smile? How do I make someone laugh? And if I can do that, then, sort of like a Disney movie, you know, just try to do all those things. Stay present.
That's great advice, especially, you know, when someone's in their grieving process, I feel like we can tend to be in the past, or be too much in the future, just stay Yeah.
Well, so much of of grieving is the past, right? Because you draw up all kinds of feelings of you what you witnessed in Saul, and it can it. It can spiral you into a chasm that can be difficult to get out of, and you have to just give yourself a lot of self care. I say that a lot too, which is, a lot of us don't do that. And I'll give my wife would say it to me, like, hey, you know you got to take care of yourself, because if you don't take. Yourself. You're not here for us. You're not here to take care of others, you're not here to do good things. And she's right, if I don't, if I am just self destructive and I pull myself down, then I've given up, and I've not, you know, I'm not doing what I should do for others. And so I think a lot of times when you put it into others that you can pull yourself, it helps you. And again, I say this to people, there's no easy recipe. Grief is is awful. It's just awful. And but believe in yourself. Self care. Take care of yourself, and you can come out the other side, positive. I
think that's a really profound, wise piece of advice. So thank you for sharing it, and thank you for being here with us today. And I know you and I and Christian, of course, are inviting everyone to consider what's good about today. I'm excited to share the book with everyone, so check the show notes for that and for all the contact points for Mr. Christopher Cochran, thank you so much for so bravely and openly sharing your journey and your light and continuing to let Christians light shine through you and through your lovely wife. Danielle, to the world.
Joy. Thank you so much. I'm so honored to be here with you, and you're definitely what's good about today. I feel very blessed, and so thank you so much, and I appreciate everything. I don't know what you know you're awesome.
Oh, so are you both awesome?
Well, of course, a big thank you to Christopher Cochran again. His book is what's good about today a Purpose Driven Life, and hopefully through our conversation, and definitely through the book, you'll be able to see why that question, what's good about today is so profound, not only for each of us to hold on to as we move through our life, in the challenges, in the struggles and also in the light spots, but also really significant to Christian Cochrane as a soul, as who he was in his life experience, and who he continues to be, and the light that he continues to shine through his dad into the world to advance all of the wonderful foundations and Legacy Fund and this book. So I'll link everything in the show notes for you. Again. The website is Christian cochrane.com but i'll link it so you can have it the book you can find out about there. I'll also link the Instagram and the Facebook so you can get involved if you want to support any of their causes, or if you just want to be a part of this movement which the life and love of Christian really gave to this world. So what an incredible gift from a very special young man, and much gratitude to not only Christopher Cochran, but to his whole family as well, just big thanks to them for sharing the most amazing soul with us, for sharing their son, Christian, both in life, and continuing on his legacy, and continuing to share the gifts and the light that he brought to the world. And I'm so grateful for all of you being here listening. I know we all have our own journey with grief, our own journey with understanding, our own journey with love and with loss, and I know that we all struggle sometimes. So I hope that you will hold on to Christians question, what's good about today, and also to this idea of pausing and taking those small moments, taking a breath and living in the present, in the moment. So thanks to you for being here. I hope that this has been meaningful for you. I know that this conversation's been really meaningful for me. Big hugs.
Lots of love.
Bye for now. From inside,
Spirit Speakeasy, see you soon.