In Rememberance of Chris , DC

[Guest guest]

Over the last month I have received a number of inquiries regarding . His mother and sister recently passed away. He was estranged from his father and brother. His aunt and uncle from the Seattle area are dealing with his affairs. They are devastated and overwhelmed by his death.

I had hoped that a memorial service could be held, but his aunt and uncle have no immediate plans. Western States is unable to assist due to city permit issues. As such there are no public plans for a service.

I offer the following in lieu of any formal memorial gathering; please share as you see fit:

In Remembrance of , D.C.

1965 – 2010

How do you say goodbye when you are not ready for someone to leave? How do you end your conversation when death interferes?

died before we were ready. He had reached out to many and touched their souls. was not content with being “just a chiropractor.†He had polished his Spanish at University of California – Berkley and with his professional training from Western States Chiropractic College, he provided healthcare to the under-served Hispanic Community in Oregon and California. He shared his knowledge with young interns as part of the college’s clinical faculty. He wanted his students to be the “best that they were capable of.†Some thought him a “taskmaster,†but others saw his goal to improve the interns’ knowledge and to better prepare them for practice. He wanted them to succeed.

In addition to his treating practice, he participated in consulting exams. He hoped to encourage doctors to improve their skills as well; whether it was documentation or clinical reasoning. He hoped to move chiropractic forward. More recently, he was considering advancing his professional knowledge into law.

People found him approachable and he helped many in troubled times.

While his physical presence is gone, his efforts will influence us all. The Kaddish, the Hebrew prayer for the mourner, does not talk of death; it is an affirmation to life. It was written for the common man to draw support from the community while facing a loss as we do now.

Loren Easley tells the story of a man walking on a beach as the tide recedes. On the sand are starfish, thousands of starfish, and as he walks further, he sees a figure in the distance that appears to be dancing. He is moving up and down, forward and back, and as he gets closer, he sees that it is a young man reaching down to the stranded starfish, and one by one, throwing them out into the ocean. As he approaches the young man, he asks, “What are you doing?†The young man replied, “I’m saving starfish.†The man replied, “but there are literally thousands of starfish up on the beach; its overwhelming; you can’t possibly save all of them.†The young man smiled, reached down, and picked up a starfish, and threw it deep into the waves and said, “I made a difference for that one.â€

helped many starfish; let that be his legacy.

D. Freedland, D.C.