In our pic of the day, we celebrate the anniversary of Chris Kyle‘s birthday, one day late. Chris was born on April 8th, 1974. He would have been 50 years old. Hard to believe.
While I never had the honor of personally knowing Chris, I’ve heard many first-hand stories about him. He was involved in the early days of SOFREP. Who knows what might have happened had the horrible events of February 2013 not taken place, but sadly, they did.
Yesterday, Chris’s son Colton wrote a moving tribute to his Dad on Instagram. I’m reposting it here to share with all of you.
Today would have been your 50th birthday.
Today, I celebrate all that you were. You were kind, compassionate, thoughtful, patient, gracious, loving, disciplined, wise, protective, fun, playful, romantic, efficient, skilled, and most importantly, faithful. How you lived your life prepared me for the life ahead of me. Intentionally, you were an incredible father. Ironically, you seemed permanent, so significant and impactful that it was impossible to think of life without you in it. Unintentionally, stories that I could never experience firsthand of your life before me or in circumstances where I wasn’t present have shed light on your character outside of the father’s role. I continue to hear more stories of your playfulness, brilliance, empathy, or prowess. It inspires me to hold fast to our shared values and competitively, arrogantly, and selfishly to do better.
Your chivalry and passion for romance, or occasionally, lack thereof, moves me to be a better boyfriend and future husband.
Your great empathy moves me to care for those in need.
Your discipline and grit drive me to train, work, and learn harder daily.
Your playfulness encourages me to seek joy in everyday life.
Your humility reminds me that God judges our hearts, not our actions.
I’m so proud to have had you as a father. When I walk into a room, I am respected simply because so many people trusted your character and you to raise your kids with dignity, honor, humility, love, gratitude, patience, determination, and much more. Few people can have that expected of them. There are many fewer to have that expected by people who never knew them personally.
I cannot thank you enough for the immense blessing you have been and continue to be to me. You gave more to me in 38 years than most people will be given in a lifetime. In my 8 years with you, you loved me enough to model what a God-fearing father, husband, friend, and man should be. That’s a crash course if I’ve ever seen one.
I love you, and I am more than grateful for who you were. I’ll see you soon.
– Colton Kyle
Be sure to check out @americansniper.brand on Instagram. It’s the Kyle family store, and there is tons of good stuff there. Just five minutes ago, I bought a ball cap, and they were offering free shipping if you used the code “HERO” on checkout.
