FREE DOWNLOAD! 14 Nuggets of Wisdom for a Better Life!
What if a young man’s short but extraordinary life could teach us profound lessons about empathy, resilience, and living with intention? In this heartfelt episode of Grit, Grace, & Inspiration, host Kevin Lowe sits down with Christopher Cochran to share the inspiring story of his son, Christian.
Even after his passing, Christian Cochran's life shines bright, continually inspiring others to ask themselves a simple but transformative question: "What's good about today?"
Experience the Impact of Christian's Legacy
Today, we’re joined by Christopher Cochran, a father whose son, Christian, lived a life that was short in years but vast in impact. Diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer at just 22 years old, Christian chose to focus not on his pain but on spreading joy, compassion, and hope. In this deeply moving interview, Christopher shares stories of his son’s humor, faith, and unyielding positivity, alongside the enduring lessons that inspired the book What’s Good About Today: A Purpose Driven Life. This conversation is a testament to the power of perspective and a reminder to cherish the simple beauty in each day.
Mentioned Links
*Christian Cochran Legacy Fund: ChristianCochran.org
*Book: "What’s Good About Today: A Purpose Driven Life": Available on Amazon
Life Lessons for Us All
- Learn how resilience is a decision, not just a trait, and how to practice it daily.
- Discover the transformative power of small, intentional acts of kindness.
- Be inspired by Christian’s motto, "What’s good about today?" and how it can reshape your outlook on life.
I encourage you to press play on this episode right away, so that you too can be blessed by a reminder in how we should all be living as inspired by Christian Cochran.
Today’s Featured Guest
Christopher Cochran is a devoted father, author, and advocate for spreading positivity through personal and collective action. After losing his son Christian to a rare form of cancer, Christopher channeled his grief into a mission to honor Christian’s legacy. His book, What’s Good About Today: A Purpose Driven Life, has become a beacon of hope and a guide for embracing life’s challenges with grace and love. Through the Christian Cochran Legacy Fund, Christopher continues to support causes close to his son’s heart, ensuring Christian’s light shines on.
Hey, it's Kevin!
I hope you enjoyed today's episode! If there is ever anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to reach out. Below, you will find ALL the places and ALL the ways to connect!
- I would LOVE to hear from you! Send me a Voice Message
- Want to be a guest on GRIT, GRACE, & INSPIRATION? Send Kevin Lowe a message on PodMatch!
- Sign-Up to Receive My LinkedIn Newsletter
- Plus Hangout with Me on LinkedIn
- Let's Schedule a Virtual Coffee Date
Show Notes
FREE DOWNLOAD! 14 Nuggets of Wisdom for a Better Life!
What if a young man’s short but extraordinary life could teach us profound lessons about empathy, resilience, and living with intention? In this heartfelt episode of Grit, Grace, & Inspiration, host Kevin Lowe sits down with Christopher Cochran to share the inspiring story of his son, Christian.
Even after his passing, Christian Cochran's life shines bright, continually inspiring others to ask themselves a simple but transformative question: "What's good about today?"
Experience the Impact of Christian's Legacy
Today, we’re joined by Christopher Cochran, a father whose son, Christian, lived a life that was short in years but vast in impact. Diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer at just 22 years old, Christian chose to focus not on his pain but on spreading joy, compassion, and hope. In this deeply moving interview, Christopher shares stories of his son’s humor, faith, and unyielding positivity, alongside the enduring lessons that inspired the book What’s Good About Today: A Purpose Driven Life. This conversation is a testament to the power of perspective and a reminder to cherish the simple beauty in each day.
Mentioned Links
*Christian Cochran Legacy Fund: ChristianCochran.org
*Book: "What’s Good About Today: A Purpose Driven Life": Available on Amazon
Life Lessons for Us All
- Learn how resilience is a decision, not just a trait, and how to practice it daily.
- Discover the transformative power of small, intentional acts of kindness.
- Be inspired by Christian’s motto, "What’s good about today?" and how it can reshape your outlook on life.
I encourage you to press play on this episode right away, so that you too can be blessed by a reminder in how we should all be living as inspired by Christian Cochran.
Today’s Featured Guest
Christopher Cochran is a devoted father, author, and advocate for spreading positivity through personal and collective action. After losing his son Christian to a rare form of cancer, Christopher channeled his grief into a mission to honor Christian’s legacy. His book, What’s Good About Today: A Purpose Driven Life, has become a beacon of hope and a guide for embracing life’s challenges with grace and love. Through the Christian Cochran Legacy Fund, Christopher continues to support causes close to his son’s heart, ensuring Christian’s light shines on.
Hey, it's Kevin!
I hope you enjoyed today's episode! If there is ever anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to reach out. Below, you will find ALL the places and ALL the ways to connect!
- I would LOVE to hear from you! Send me a Voice Message
- Want to be a guest on GRIT, GRACE, & INSPIRATION? Send Kevin Lowe a message on PodMatch!
- Sign-Up to Receive My LinkedIn Newsletter
- Plus Hangout with Me on LinkedIn
- Let's Schedule a Virtual Coffee Date
- Come Checkout the Website
Stay Awesome! Live Inspired!
© 2025 Grit, Grace, & Inspiration
Show Transcript
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Kevin Lowe: Whether this is your first time ever pressing play on this podcast,
00:00:04.816 --> 00:00:06.456
Kevin Lowe: which if it is, well, welcome.
00:00:06.756 --> 00:00:11.276
Kevin Lowe: Or if you've been here since the beginning, I hope you find one thing to be true.
00:00:11.436 --> 00:00:16.656
Kevin Lowe: Is that this is a podcast that you can come to expecting to leave with a smile.
00:00:17.196 --> 00:00:22.856
Kevin Lowe: Leave having gained a new maybe view on life. Seeing life from an angle you've
00:00:22.856 --> 00:00:24.236
Kevin Lowe: never viewed it from before.
00:00:24.676 --> 00:00:28.916
Kevin Lowe: Sometimes I do that through inspiring stories, motivating tales,
00:00:28.916 --> 00:00:34.636
Kevin Lowe: or sometimes it's through those heart-centered conversations about life,
00:00:34.896 --> 00:00:36.696
Kevin Lowe: the stuff that we can all connect with.
00:00:36.836 --> 00:00:39.176
Kevin Lowe: Today, my friend, is one of those stories.
00:00:39.436 --> 00:00:43.116
Kevin Lowe: It's an interview with a father talking about his son.
00:00:43.416 --> 00:00:49.816
Kevin Lowe: Today's guest is Christopher Cochran, but the story is about his son, Christian Cochran.
00:00:49.996 --> 00:00:54.856
Kevin Lowe: Today is going to be a lesson in how to live, but also how to die,
00:00:54.856 --> 00:00:59.076
Kevin Lowe: all taught to us by a young man who left this world too soon.
00:00:59.336 --> 00:01:04.776
Kevin Lowe: And yet, in some way, it was like it was all planned out this way because.
00:01:05.416 --> 00:01:09.416
Kevin Lowe: Well, he packed a lot into the years that he was here on Earth.
00:01:09.636 --> 00:01:13.516
Kevin Lowe: And the legacy he leaves behind is far lasting.
00:01:13.816 --> 00:01:17.336
Kevin Lowe: It made an impact on me the moment that I heard about this story.
00:01:17.556 --> 00:01:21.776
Kevin Lowe: When I sat down and I had Christopher Cochran on the podcast and we recorded
00:01:21.776 --> 00:01:24.436
Kevin Lowe: today's episode, it totally changed my life.
00:01:24.856 --> 00:01:29.196
Kevin Lowe: And my friend, I can only hope and pray that it's going to do the same for you.
00:01:29.376 --> 00:01:34.056
Kevin Lowe: Because by the end of today's episode, I'm going to have you waking up tomorrow
00:01:34.056 --> 00:01:39.436
Kevin Lowe: morning, asking yourself a very important, yet so simple of a question.
00:01:39.676 --> 00:01:41.316
Kevin Lowe: What's good about today?
00:01:41.596 --> 00:01:46.316
Kevin Lowe: With that, my friend, I welcome you to an episode that I hope is going to completely
00:01:46.316 --> 00:01:48.396
Kevin Lowe: change your life from this day forward.
00:01:48.716 --> 00:01:53.896
Kevin Lowe: I welcome you to episode 361. Hey, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe,
00:01:53.996 --> 00:01:57.256
Kevin Lowe: and you are listening to Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.
00:01:58.376 --> 00:02:04.276
Kevin Lowe: I am here in the studio today with a guy I have been so excited to get to talk to again.
00:02:04.716 --> 00:02:06.816
Kevin Lowe: Chris, welcome to the podcast, man.
00:02:07.476 --> 00:02:10.876
Christopher Cochran: Hey, thank you so much, Kevin. I'm so excited to be here with you.
00:02:10.956 --> 00:02:12.796
Christopher Cochran: And I knew we were getting together again.
00:02:13.276 --> 00:02:16.836
Christopher Cochran: The other time was, of course, off air, but just excited to talk to you.
00:02:16.956 --> 00:02:21.276
Christopher Cochran: You always bring such a light to so many conversations. So thank you again.
00:02:21.536 --> 00:02:27.936
Kevin Lowe: Oh, man, I appreciate that very much. Well, well, listen, so obviously the story
00:02:27.936 --> 00:02:32.076
Kevin Lowe: of your son, Christian, is going to be a big part of our conversation today.
00:02:32.296 --> 00:02:38.056
Kevin Lowe: But before even just diving into his story specifically, would you mind just
00:02:38.056 --> 00:02:43.556
Kevin Lowe: kind of giving me an overview of your family before diagnoses,
00:02:43.876 --> 00:02:45.776
Kevin Lowe: before any of that drama?
00:02:46.056 --> 00:02:47.916
Kevin Lowe: What was just family like for you?
00:02:47.916 --> 00:02:54.196
Christopher Cochran: Yeah, I grew up in central Pennsylvania in a small town called Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.
00:02:55.466 --> 00:02:58.826
Christopher Cochran: I have four brothers. I had two loving parents.
00:02:59.126 --> 00:03:03.686
Christopher Cochran: My parents were good people. My mother was a church-going woman,
00:03:03.686 --> 00:03:06.986
Christopher Cochran: so I spent my Sundays going to church.
00:03:07.186 --> 00:03:10.966
Christopher Cochran: Even when I didn't want to, my mother would make sure I was there.
00:03:11.606 --> 00:03:16.326
Christopher Cochran: I grew up very competitively in a competitive environment with brothers.
00:03:16.326 --> 00:03:18.446
Christopher Cochran: I was a wrestler in high school.
00:03:18.566 --> 00:03:21.146
Christopher Cochran: I wrestled in college at the University of Tennessee.
00:03:21.846 --> 00:03:28.166
Christopher Cochran: And so I was raised, you know, in this atmosphere. My father was a Navy guy.
00:03:28.326 --> 00:03:31.306
Christopher Cochran: He was a frogman, which predates the seal.
00:03:31.466 --> 00:03:34.746
Christopher Cochran: So you can imagine growing up in this atmosphere of very loving,
00:03:35.006 --> 00:03:40.006
Christopher Cochran: very tough, and really driving me to be a better person.
00:03:40.406 --> 00:03:45.006
Christopher Cochran: And so I made my way through high school, like lots of people.
00:03:45.226 --> 00:03:50.206
Christopher Cochran: And I was very blessed that this is now 40 years ago. So I was invited to a
00:03:50.206 --> 00:03:52.686
Christopher Cochran: party by a good friend of mine. His name's Brian.
00:03:53.046 --> 00:03:57.286
Christopher Cochran: It was an upperclassman party. I got to go to the party. As I entered the party,
00:03:57.406 --> 00:03:58.586
Christopher Cochran: I was going up a flight of stairs.
00:03:58.746 --> 00:04:04.526
Christopher Cochran: We passed these two girls coming down the stairs. It's the second girl that I made eye contact with.
00:04:04.646 --> 00:04:08.526
Christopher Cochran: And we had a sparkle, you know, sort of like being that this was the 80s,
00:04:08.606 --> 00:04:12.726
Christopher Cochran: like a slowdown version of a movie where you have this connection with someone.
00:04:13.246 --> 00:04:18.006
Christopher Cochran: We didn't talk at all. We didn't say anything. I knew she was an upperclassman.
00:04:18.446 --> 00:04:22.146
Christopher Cochran: Two grades ahead of me, but the next day, I never talked to her that night,
00:04:22.266 --> 00:04:24.166
Christopher Cochran: but the next day she showed up at my house
00:04:24.795 --> 00:04:29.295
Christopher Cochran: I wasn't there. She left a note on a paper plate with my little brother.
00:04:29.835 --> 00:04:34.075
Christopher Cochran: And he gave me that note and said, this girl came by, she was driving a really
00:04:34.075 --> 00:04:37.675
Christopher Cochran: beautiful car, Mercedes, and he was more enamored by that.
00:04:37.835 --> 00:04:39.935
Christopher Cochran: But the name stood out. Her name was Danielle.
00:04:40.115 --> 00:04:42.475
Christopher Cochran: And I said, Danielle, why would she be reaching out to me?
00:04:42.915 --> 00:04:46.595
Christopher Cochran: And so I decided to make this phone call. And I'm glad I did.
00:04:47.115 --> 00:04:50.955
Christopher Cochran: We decided to go on a date. She asked me out to the movies. We went to the movies
00:04:50.955 --> 00:04:56.415
Christopher Cochran: and we had a beautiful relationship, continue to have that. I'm married to her.
00:04:56.735 --> 00:04:59.695
Christopher Cochran: We've been married now, what, 30 years? We dated for 10.
00:05:00.075 --> 00:05:03.315
Christopher Cochran: And so we started the American dream.
00:05:03.615 --> 00:05:08.815
Christopher Cochran: We dreamed of having children. And that led us to the point where we had three beautiful children.
00:05:09.055 --> 00:05:16.995
Christopher Cochran: And so it continues to this day that we are together and sharing life's journeys of ups and downs.
00:05:17.315 --> 00:05:22.695
Christopher Cochran: And certainly, as we'll talk about, the journey of losing our firstborn child,
00:05:22.895 --> 00:05:28.735
Christopher Cochran: Christian, but I came from a good family and I'm very blessed to have had that along the way.
00:05:29.135 --> 00:05:34.075
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, I love it so much. Talk to me a little bit about your three kids.
00:05:34.155 --> 00:05:36.495
Kevin Lowe: I'd love to hear a little bit about each one of them.
00:05:36.695 --> 00:05:43.055
Christopher Cochran: So Christian is our oldest. He is 26. My daughter is 25.
00:05:43.595 --> 00:05:49.915
Christopher Cochran: She's located in Norfolk, Virginia. She is the wife of a naval officer who actually
00:05:49.915 --> 00:05:55.015
Christopher Cochran: serves overseas on the USS Cole right now in the Middle East.
00:05:55.195 --> 00:05:58.835
Christopher Cochran: So he's definitely involved in things that are going on over there.
00:05:59.589 --> 00:06:05.389
Christopher Cochran: He's on deployment. My younger son, Nicholas, is currently enrolled as a junior
00:06:05.389 --> 00:06:08.049
Christopher Cochran: at the University of Indiana, Pennsylvania.
00:06:08.729 --> 00:06:14.449
Christopher Cochran: That's where all my kids went to school. And so all of them are wonderful kids, all different.
00:06:14.729 --> 00:06:17.689
Christopher Cochran: They always say, when you have these kids, you think they're going to be somewhat
00:06:17.689 --> 00:06:21.849
Christopher Cochran: similar, but they couldn't be more different from one another and how they go about things.
00:06:21.989 --> 00:06:26.729
Christopher Cochran: So it does challenge you as a parent as you navigate this life,
00:06:26.729 --> 00:06:31.209
Christopher Cochran: but they're all wonderful children. And I love seeing them every moment I get.
00:06:31.709 --> 00:06:37.829
Kevin Lowe: Absolutely. I just, I wanted to ask that question just because as we continue
00:06:37.829 --> 00:06:41.969
Kevin Lowe: our conversation today, I just want to be sure that I recognize the fact that
00:06:41.969 --> 00:06:46.389
Kevin Lowe: what happens as we talk about the story about your son, Christian,
00:06:46.609 --> 00:06:49.709
Kevin Lowe: I'm sure it's something that has impacted your entire family,
00:06:50.209 --> 00:06:52.689
Kevin Lowe: each one individually, as well as a whole.
00:06:53.009 --> 00:07:00.089
Kevin Lowe: And so as we go today, I just want everyone to understand that we're not just
00:07:00.089 --> 00:07:02.769
Kevin Lowe: talking about you and your son, we're talking about a family.
00:07:03.989 --> 00:07:07.089
Christopher Cochran: Yeah, absolutely. All of us have been affected by this.
00:07:07.229 --> 00:07:09.729
Christopher Cochran: We still continue to this day, and it's only been three years,
00:07:09.809 --> 00:07:12.749
Christopher Cochran: but we navigate, but we're close. You know, that's the thing.
00:07:12.989 --> 00:07:18.289
Christopher Cochran: You know, we support one another, and that's critical when you go through things like this.
00:07:18.409 --> 00:07:22.289
Christopher Cochran: And we all have our ways of navigating grief and how we go about it.
00:07:22.389 --> 00:07:24.809
Christopher Cochran: It's not an easy task by any means, but we're not going to be able to do it.
00:07:25.246 --> 00:07:29.226
Christopher Cochran: But we love one another and we've always been close.
00:07:29.506 --> 00:07:32.846
Christopher Cochran: So it's just an extenuation of things.
00:07:33.066 --> 00:07:38.266
Christopher Cochran: But much like life, you just you have these difficult moments as everyone's going to have.
00:07:38.546 --> 00:07:44.426
Christopher Cochran: Right. It's it's inevitable in this life that everyone things are going to turn on a dime.
00:07:44.706 --> 00:07:50.606
Christopher Cochran: And the question is, how do you react to it? How do you approach life going forward after that?
00:07:50.826 --> 00:07:53.986
Christopher Cochran: Do you give up? Do you not give up? How do you interact with others?
00:07:53.986 --> 00:07:59.606
Christopher Cochran: And so, yeah, I have a beautiful family that has been hit by this tremendously,
00:07:59.606 --> 00:08:04.006
Christopher Cochran: and we all do it in different ways, but we're there to support each other.
00:08:04.426 --> 00:08:09.906
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I guess if you wouldn't mind, would you kind of start
00:08:09.906 --> 00:08:12.946
Kevin Lowe: diving into the story about your son, Christian?
00:08:13.326 --> 00:08:18.006
Kevin Lowe: Obviously, the whole reason that we're here is because of him and the life he
00:08:18.006 --> 00:08:23.386
Kevin Lowe: lived and the legacy he's left. And so I would love for you to kind of take
00:08:23.386 --> 00:08:27.406
Kevin Lowe: it from where you think the best part is, is to start to share his story.
00:08:27.646 --> 00:08:31.246
Christopher Cochran: Well, Christian, yeah, I love talking about Christian. I love talking about
00:08:31.246 --> 00:08:33.686
Christopher Cochran: my kids. So all of them, by the way.
00:08:34.006 --> 00:08:37.326
Christopher Cochran: But Christian in particular, obviously first born, you know,
00:08:37.426 --> 00:08:41.346
Christopher Cochran: after we got married and for a couple of years enjoyed the blissful life of
00:08:41.346 --> 00:08:43.326
Christopher Cochran: marriage, we decided to have a child.
00:08:43.326 --> 00:08:48.486
Christopher Cochran: We knew right from the get-go we were going to name him Christian because we
00:08:48.486 --> 00:08:52.826
Christopher Cochran: knew he was destined for extraordinary things and felt the name was fitting for him.
00:08:53.066 --> 00:08:57.346
Christopher Cochran: Ever since he was born, he was extraordinarily different from everyone else.
00:08:57.486 --> 00:09:01.726
Christopher Cochran: He had this innate ability to show empathy for others.
00:09:01.766 --> 00:09:07.306
Christopher Cochran: Even as a young child, it was quite extraordinary. We would always refer to him as Mr. Comfort.
00:09:08.166 --> 00:09:12.726
Christopher Cochran: And he could comfort my wife when she was going through her birth with the other
00:09:12.726 --> 00:09:17.026
Christopher Cochran: children when they were born, just to let her know that he loved her and he was proud of her.
00:09:17.186 --> 00:09:20.046
Christopher Cochran: And it's something unusual you see in a child.
00:09:20.718 --> 00:09:25.498
Christopher Cochran: So even as Christian was getting older, and I remember when he was eight years
00:09:25.498 --> 00:09:28.998
Christopher Cochran: old, the first day at the bus stop, you know, all kids are clamoring to get
00:09:28.998 --> 00:09:30.918
Christopher Cochran: on that bus, but not Christian.
00:09:30.978 --> 00:09:34.938
Christopher Cochran: He wanted all his friends to get on first. They all would want to be next to each other.
00:09:35.158 --> 00:09:40.398
Christopher Cochran: And he would then let the special needs kids go on next. And he would always be the last one.
00:09:40.678 --> 00:09:43.838
Christopher Cochran: And he did that because it brought him joy to see others find joy.
00:09:44.238 --> 00:09:47.518
Christopher Cochran: Right. And so much of this world we're filled with what's good for me.
00:09:47.658 --> 00:09:51.358
Christopher Cochran: What can I get out of this? And that's not how he operated. even as a young boy.
00:09:51.778 --> 00:09:56.678
Christopher Cochran: And so that carried on. Even as a teenager, we witnessed things and how he was
00:09:56.678 --> 00:10:02.018
Christopher Cochran: giving all of himself to others, whether it was through a smile, laughter.
00:10:02.478 --> 00:10:07.438
Christopher Cochran: He was extremely funny. He just brought he just when he walked into a room,
00:10:07.658 --> 00:10:14.098
Christopher Cochran: he lit it up and you wanted to spend time with him because you just were drawn in to his presence.
00:10:14.318 --> 00:10:17.838
Christopher Cochran: And so ultimately, you know, Christian went to college.
00:10:18.018 --> 00:10:21.958
Christopher Cochran: He went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, graduated from the honors college
00:10:21.958 --> 00:10:25.738
Christopher Cochran: there. He came back in 2020 at the end of 2020.
00:10:25.898 --> 00:10:30.898
Christopher Cochran: And I remember this was during COVID and he had some back pain and we treated it as such.
00:10:30.998 --> 00:10:34.518
Christopher Cochran: We saw doctors. They said it was nothing because he was incredibly healthy kid.
00:10:34.958 --> 00:10:40.738
Christopher Cochran: And ultimately the pain had gotten so great. We eventually went and got tests, had to have CT scans.
00:10:41.058 --> 00:10:45.338
Christopher Cochran: We were brought into a room. This was during COVID. It was just myself and Christian.
00:10:45.938 --> 00:10:49.658
Christopher Cochran: And the doctors all walked in, their faces were covered. You could only see their eyes.
00:10:49.758 --> 00:10:52.518
Christopher Cochran: But I knew as soon as they walked in the door, they were about to deliver the
00:10:52.518 --> 00:10:57.018
Christopher Cochran: news, the worst news possible for Christian and ultimately what we were all
00:10:57.018 --> 00:10:59.298
Christopher Cochran: going to have to deal with as a family.
00:10:59.518 --> 00:11:04.638
Christopher Cochran: And they told him that he had a cancer and ultimately it was a terminal cancer.
00:11:04.858 --> 00:11:06.858
Christopher Cochran: He had a grapefruit sized tumor on his liver.
00:11:07.158 --> 00:11:11.038
Christopher Cochran: And I'll never forget the first of many acts of superpower. Christian looked
00:11:11.038 --> 00:11:14.198
Christopher Cochran: at me, my knees were buckling. He put his hand on my and he said,
00:11:15.074 --> 00:11:18.934
Christopher Cochran: Don't worry, everything's going to be okay. And he calmly asked the doctors
00:11:18.934 --> 00:11:20.194
Christopher Cochran: how much time he had to live.
00:11:20.354 --> 00:11:23.494
Christopher Cochran: They didn't want to answer that question. And of course, I had to go home and
00:11:23.494 --> 00:11:26.794
Christopher Cochran: we had to have this discussion with his mom. And when we told Christian how
00:11:26.794 --> 00:11:31.894
Christopher Cochran: sorry we were, how difficult this was, he said, it's okay, mom and dad.
00:11:32.114 --> 00:11:36.254
Christopher Cochran: I wouldn't want this on anyone. This is my burden and it's okay.
00:11:36.494 --> 00:11:40.374
Christopher Cochran: He was very accepting of it and not a moment from the day he was diagnosed,
00:11:40.574 --> 00:11:46.614
Christopher Cochran: which was August 26th of 2020 to the moment that he took his last breath with
00:11:46.614 --> 00:11:51.034
Christopher Cochran: us around him here at home on September 1st of 2021,
00:11:51.394 --> 00:11:55.234
Christopher Cochran: almost a little over a year, did he ever complain once?
00:11:55.374 --> 00:11:58.194
Christopher Cochran: He never said, why me? Why did this happen to me?
00:11:58.574 --> 00:12:02.194
Christopher Cochran: Quite the contrary. He would remind us every day, he would say,
00:12:02.474 --> 00:12:05.354
Christopher Cochran: what's good about today? With a question.
00:12:06.014 --> 00:12:08.774
Christopher Cochran: And when we were down, he would say, what's good about today.
00:12:09.074 --> 00:12:12.614
Christopher Cochran: And it would help us remind us that there is beauty. There is wonder.
00:12:13.014 --> 00:12:19.734
Christopher Cochran: There's so many special things that are in this day that we have to focus on, not the negative.
00:12:19.854 --> 00:12:23.914
Christopher Cochran: And there are plenty of bad days, but we try to focus on the good because it's
00:12:23.914 --> 00:12:26.434
Christopher Cochran: a choice, right? It's a choice we can all make.
00:12:26.594 --> 00:12:30.874
Christopher Cochran: And Christian left that legacy with us. And so that's what inspired myself,
00:12:31.054 --> 00:12:34.614
Christopher Cochran: of course, to write the book, What's Good About Today, A Purpose Driven Life,
00:12:34.754 --> 00:12:40.134
Christopher Cochran: to document this love story as a family. So that's Christian.
00:12:40.874 --> 00:12:46.974
Kevin Lowe: Wow. Remind me again how old he was when you guys received this diagnosis.
00:12:47.374 --> 00:12:50.474
Christopher Cochran: So Christian was diagnosed at 22 years of age.
00:12:50.714 --> 00:12:54.814
Christopher Cochran: Like I said, just graduating college, ready to take off. He was I glowed on
00:12:54.814 --> 00:12:56.934
Christopher Cochran: him. And I always hear that tap on my shoulder.
00:12:57.054 --> 00:13:01.314
Christopher Cochran: Dad, don't talk too much about me because he was so humble, you know,
00:13:01.394 --> 00:13:03.314
Christopher Cochran: but you're a dad. This is what you do.
00:13:03.534 --> 00:13:06.874
Christopher Cochran: You talk about your kids. You love your kids. But he was so talented.
00:13:07.474 --> 00:13:10.734
Christopher Cochran: I mean, the most important part is that he was so loving and caring and loved
00:13:10.734 --> 00:13:14.994
Christopher Cochran: us as parents and loved his family. But he was a talented actor on stage.
00:13:15.594 --> 00:13:20.434
Christopher Cochran: He was always the lead in every musical, every play. He had already been in
00:13:20.434 --> 00:13:22.594
Christopher Cochran: a major motion picture of the Batman movie.
00:13:23.154 --> 00:13:28.234
Christopher Cochran: And actually, he was a paid actor in that movie. And so he was ready to take off.
00:13:28.334 --> 00:13:32.734
Christopher Cochran: He was doing so many wonderful things with his life and making an impact.
00:13:33.114 --> 00:13:39.154
Christopher Cochran: But yeah, hit it 22, passed away. actually at the age of 23 on his sister's
00:13:39.154 --> 00:13:42.734
Christopher Cochran: birthday, Kate, September 1st, which I'm not surprised about.
00:13:42.814 --> 00:13:45.094
Christopher Cochran: They were extremely close. They were 15 months apart.
00:13:45.434 --> 00:13:48.074
Christopher Cochran: So he died on that day.
00:13:48.674 --> 00:13:59.814
Kevin Lowe: Wow. How do you as a parent even begin that year to be told that your son has a year to live,
00:14:00.054 --> 00:14:04.194
Kevin Lowe: especially for the fact that we're not supposed to know when we're going to die?
00:14:04.838 --> 00:14:07.938
Kevin Lowe: And yet you guys found that out.
00:14:08.238 --> 00:14:13.438
Kevin Lowe: How do you even how do you even keep living for that year?
00:14:13.738 --> 00:14:16.758
Christopher Cochran: Well, I think our motivation was to try to save Christian. Right.
00:14:16.898 --> 00:14:21.438
Christopher Cochran: There was a less than one percent chance he could even make it to five years.
00:14:21.878 --> 00:14:28.558
Christopher Cochran: So I knew the odds were stacked against us. I never told my wife and my kids the statistics. Right.
00:14:28.858 --> 00:14:32.898
Christopher Cochran: I knew what they were. I had private conversations with doctors that this was
00:14:32.898 --> 00:14:35.598
Christopher Cochran: not going to be an easy journey.
00:14:35.698 --> 00:14:39.438
Christopher Cochran: But we threw everything we could to save Christian.
00:14:39.598 --> 00:14:43.558
Christopher Cochran: And Christian entrusted his family, trusted my wife and I, his aunt and his
00:14:43.558 --> 00:14:46.338
Christopher Cochran: uncle, to, we called it the CC Advisory Group,
00:14:46.718 --> 00:14:54.578
Christopher Cochran: to focus on a 24-7 operation where we researched every possible avenue to save
00:14:54.578 --> 00:14:57.818
Christopher Cochran: his life, whether it was experimental drugs.
00:14:58.398 --> 00:15:02.798
Christopher Cochran: Certainly, immediately, we got him on the standard of care in this world.
00:15:03.098 --> 00:15:05.058
Christopher Cochran: The standard of care in cancer is chemotherapy.
00:15:05.818 --> 00:15:10.518
Christopher Cochran: And you go right to that. Literally, I think we found out on a Saturday or Friday.
00:15:10.758 --> 00:15:16.158
Christopher Cochran: By Monday, he was on it. And he was being hit with the most powerful chemotherapy
00:15:16.158 --> 00:15:17.558
Christopher Cochran: drugs that were out there.
00:15:18.178 --> 00:15:20.838
Christopher Cochran: And we were just trying to knock this thing down.
00:15:22.518 --> 00:15:27.738
Christopher Cochran: And it's such a strong cancer. He had what's called cholangiocarcinoma.
00:15:27.818 --> 00:15:31.718
Christopher Cochran: And it's, by definition, it's called bio-duck cancer.
00:15:31.878 --> 00:15:35.538
Christopher Cochran: The bio-duck is connected to the liver, but ultimately it's what filters out
00:15:35.538 --> 00:15:37.518
Christopher Cochran: all the badness in our body.
00:15:37.598 --> 00:15:41.798
Christopher Cochran: But you can imagine it already at stage four, grapefruit size on his liver,
00:15:42.338 --> 00:15:45.378
Christopher Cochran: had already had started to spread to his lymph nodes.
00:15:45.958 --> 00:15:52.498
Christopher Cochran: He had ultimately kept it at bay for months, but we knew that this was,
00:15:52.658 --> 00:15:54.518
Christopher Cochran: the chemo was not gonna be the answer.
00:15:54.618 --> 00:16:00.798
Christopher Cochran: So we were always researching DNA, RNA factors, we went to every DNA facilities
00:16:00.798 --> 00:16:05.938
Christopher Cochran: to the molecular level to break down his DNAs and find out if there were any
00:16:05.938 --> 00:16:09.538
Christopher Cochran: drugs on the market that could sustain his life.
00:16:09.738 --> 00:16:12.798
Christopher Cochran: And we did, here's the thing about this cancer.
00:16:13.878 --> 00:16:16.358
Christopher Cochran: It's only really seen mostly in older people,
00:16:17.163 --> 00:16:23.823
Christopher Cochran: and in Southeast Asia. Not a kid in Northwest Pennsylvania, right?
00:16:23.963 --> 00:16:28.123
Christopher Cochran: It's just not something you see. So it was extremely unusual.
00:16:29.003 --> 00:16:34.323
Christopher Cochran: And we just knew that we were up against some major odds. He did too.
00:16:34.583 --> 00:16:39.743
Christopher Cochran: I think he knew even when he was diagnosed what was going on.
00:16:39.883 --> 00:16:44.103
Christopher Cochran: He had already accepted this, I think, a long time ago, even before he had cancer.
00:16:44.143 --> 00:16:46.263
Christopher Cochran: I think he lived such a big life.
00:16:46.503 --> 00:16:51.603
Christopher Cochran: So I think he understood that. So I think for us, our focus to answer your question
00:16:51.603 --> 00:16:52.763
Christopher Cochran: is we focused on Christian.
00:16:53.023 --> 00:16:56.523
Christopher Cochran: That's what kept us going. We had hope. You always have hope, right?
00:16:56.683 --> 00:16:59.823
Christopher Cochran: You always feel like you're going to be that outlier. But Christian knew,
00:16:59.963 --> 00:17:04.163
Christopher Cochran: and I'd had private conversations with him. He knew his time was coming to an end.
00:17:04.383 --> 00:17:08.703
Christopher Cochran: And so, but that's tough. It's tough to keep in as a parent and stuff to,
00:17:08.843 --> 00:17:10.483
Christopher Cochran: but to remain hopeful, right?
00:17:10.663 --> 00:17:13.243
Christopher Cochran: And tell him like, Like, hey, we're going to keep moving forward.
00:17:13.483 --> 00:17:21.023
Kevin Lowe: At what point did you come to the realization that he wasn't going to get better?
00:17:21.483 --> 00:17:26.783
Christopher Cochran: Well, I think probably I'm going to say three months prior to his passing.
00:17:27.003 --> 00:17:29.583
Christopher Cochran: I think that nothing was working.
00:17:29.843 --> 00:17:32.323
Christopher Cochran: The cancer had spread to his bones recently.
00:17:32.728 --> 00:17:37.048
Christopher Cochran: We knew, I knew of extremely aggressive cancer. But I think,
00:17:37.228 --> 00:17:40.428
Christopher Cochran: you know, look, I still held out hope even three months in it.
00:17:40.588 --> 00:17:45.108
Christopher Cochran: I think about a month and a half prior was when you could really see Christian's
00:17:45.108 --> 00:17:47.428
Christopher Cochran: cancer take over his body.
00:17:47.808 --> 00:17:52.848
Christopher Cochran: And there's nothing worse. My son, and people can see pictures of him.
00:17:52.948 --> 00:17:54.208
Christopher Cochran: He's absolutely gorgeous kid.
00:17:54.368 --> 00:18:00.348
Christopher Cochran: He's a beautiful kid and curly brown hair and brown eyes and just the best smile ever.
00:18:00.348 --> 00:18:04.628
Christopher Cochran: But when you see that dwindle away what cancer does to someone,
00:18:04.788 --> 00:18:10.448
Christopher Cochran: it just takes their body and it debilitates them down. He couldn't walk.
00:18:11.228 --> 00:18:15.668
Christopher Cochran: His bones were being affected. Everything was being invaded by the cancer.
00:18:15.828 --> 00:18:22.468
Christopher Cochran: And so you see a beautiful child just sort of fade away in terms of his body,
00:18:22.468 --> 00:18:25.168
Christopher Cochran: not his mind. He still had his mind.
00:18:25.948 --> 00:18:29.028
Christopher Cochran: So those are kind of the different points. It's different moments.
00:18:29.028 --> 00:18:34.228
Christopher Cochran: You know, I think you go through that process of, hey, we had good results and
00:18:34.228 --> 00:18:38.108
Christopher Cochran: you hang on to that and then you don't. But yeah.
00:18:38.788 --> 00:18:42.388
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. During this time, this year
00:18:42.388 --> 00:18:48.988
Kevin Lowe: that you guys had in the midst of cancer treatment, the sadness of it all.
00:18:49.148 --> 00:18:54.528
Kevin Lowe: Talk to me about some of the times that you look back on and that they make you smile.
00:18:55.328 --> 00:19:00.088
Kevin Lowe: That something maybe that Christian did that he said and experienced?
00:19:00.588 --> 00:19:04.508
Kevin Lowe: Because I know there has to be moments that you smile.
00:19:05.048 --> 00:19:08.488
Christopher Cochran: Oh, yeah. Wow, there's so many. I mean, that's the thing about Christian is
00:19:08.488 --> 00:19:12.668
Christopher Cochran: he never, like I said, never complained, but he was always making jokes and
00:19:12.668 --> 00:19:16.168
Christopher Cochran: having fun, making us laugh, making others laugh.
00:19:16.168 --> 00:19:19.908
Christopher Cochran: He always wanted to be all of himself when someone would come visit Christian.
00:19:20.108 --> 00:19:21.328
Christopher Cochran: Remember, this is during COVID, right?
00:19:21.970 --> 00:19:26.370
Christopher Cochran: So when someone would come to see him, it was tough for Christian because he's
00:19:26.370 --> 00:19:30.870
Christopher Cochran: the entertainer and he wants he doesn't want you to feel sad for him.
00:19:30.950 --> 00:19:32.670
Christopher Cochran: He never wanted to be that kid with cancer.
00:19:32.810 --> 00:19:35.190
Christopher Cochran: He used to tell me like, Dad, I don't want to be known for that.
00:19:35.470 --> 00:19:39.410
Christopher Cochran: You know, I don't want to be known for that. I want to be known for positivity
00:19:39.410 --> 00:19:43.310
Christopher Cochran: and the good things. And so he would always do things to make us laugh.
00:19:43.450 --> 00:19:48.790
Christopher Cochran: He loved video games. So I remember setting him up in near our living room so
00:19:48.790 --> 00:19:50.130
Christopher Cochran: I could have visual of him.
00:19:50.710 --> 00:19:55.390
Christopher Cochran: So I never lost touch with Christian. I never wanted to miss a reaction.
00:19:55.550 --> 00:19:58.370
Christopher Cochran: His laughter with his friends talking on TeamSpeak or something.
00:19:58.590 --> 00:20:00.490
Christopher Cochran: He had this infectious laugh.
00:20:00.730 --> 00:20:04.370
Christopher Cochran: But I will tell you a story. Christian, we went on a walk together and we would
00:20:04.370 --> 00:20:08.610
Christopher Cochran: go on these different walks when he could walk just to keep his health up.
00:20:08.770 --> 00:20:12.770
Christopher Cochran: And I remember going on this walk and Christian said to me, I said,
00:20:12.830 --> 00:20:16.410
Christopher Cochran: I said to Christian, I said, Christian, do you have any regrets in life?
00:20:16.670 --> 00:20:19.370
Christopher Cochran: Do you have anything that you wish you had done differently?
00:20:20.870 --> 00:20:25.530
Christopher Cochran: And I remember Christian looking at me seriously and saying, yeah, I have a regret.
00:20:25.650 --> 00:20:28.430
Christopher Cochran: And I hung on every moment of that because I was like, to me,
00:20:28.510 --> 00:20:31.310
Christopher Cochran: Christian was such a philosopher of life and understood it so well.
00:20:31.490 --> 00:20:36.290
Christopher Cochran: He said, I said, well, what is it? He said, I wish I hadn't done so much homework.
00:20:36.810 --> 00:20:41.850
Christopher Cochran: And I started laughing. I said, Christian, I go, come on, tell me what are you
00:20:41.850 --> 00:20:44.190
Christopher Cochran: regretting? Is there anything? He says, no, dad.
00:20:44.450 --> 00:20:47.170
Christopher Cochran: I just wish I hadn't done so much homework. Look where I'm at.
00:20:47.230 --> 00:20:49.150
Christopher Cochran: I did too much homework during this time.
00:20:49.370 --> 00:20:52.910
Christopher Cochran: And it made me chuckle. It was a joke. And it was the way he brought levity
00:20:52.910 --> 00:20:56.310
Christopher Cochran: to a situation. He always had a way of bringing things back into order.
00:20:56.590 --> 00:21:03.010
Christopher Cochran: And so it's just his normal, he had such a great comedic timing and how to approach things.
00:21:03.170 --> 00:21:09.190
Christopher Cochran: And so that I remember very distinctly and how he brought lots of laughs to
00:21:09.190 --> 00:21:11.350
Christopher Cochran: everyone who was around him, especially his family.
00:21:11.630 --> 00:21:16.930
Kevin Lowe: You know, I listened to this and I think Christian, he was...
00:21:17.955 --> 00:21:25.315
Kevin Lowe: The let's say the patient the person who's sick and yet he's also the one who
00:21:25.315 --> 00:21:31.535
Kevin Lowe: wants to be sure that everybody around him is okay he doesn't want you guys
00:21:31.535 --> 00:21:33.395
Kevin Lowe: to be sad that's powerful.
00:21:33.395 --> 00:21:40.335
Christopher Cochran: Yeah yeah he always he always did that even up to the uh again a they're tough
00:21:40.335 --> 00:21:45.395
Christopher Cochran: moments the last three weeks of his life when he could speak he i remember him
00:21:45.395 --> 00:21:50.195
Christopher Cochran: saying dad he was so knowledge he was so mature and he, and he said, dad,
00:21:50.415 --> 00:21:54.535
Christopher Cochran: you've got two beautiful children to take care of and you're going to,
00:21:54.655 --> 00:21:57.395
Christopher Cochran: they're going to need you more than ever during this time.
00:21:57.555 --> 00:22:02.575
Christopher Cochran: And so he, yeah, he, he was, and here he is thinking about his brother and sister,
00:22:03.335 --> 00:22:04.995
Christopher Cochran: thinking about me and his mom.
00:22:05.155 --> 00:22:09.215
Christopher Cochran: And so he didn't think in terms of, you know, what's next for,
00:22:09.375 --> 00:22:10.635
Christopher Cochran: you know, he knew where he was going.
00:22:10.775 --> 00:22:13.915
Christopher Cochran: He knew what was next. And he, and we had those conversations where he knew
00:22:13.915 --> 00:22:16.735
Christopher Cochran: he's going after this. He was very confident in that.
00:22:17.115 --> 00:22:21.635
Christopher Cochran: To him, honestly, death was just another journey.
00:22:21.835 --> 00:22:29.335
Christopher Cochran: It wasn't a problem for him. He took it as an adventure, the biggest adventure of his life.
00:22:29.495 --> 00:22:34.095
Christopher Cochran: He loved adventures. He had traveled the world, studied abroad, been to India.
00:22:34.435 --> 00:22:39.735
Christopher Cochran: So this was just another journey for him. But he did care about everybody and
00:22:39.735 --> 00:22:42.155
Christopher Cochran: how they felt. That was the biggest impact for him.
00:22:42.155 --> 00:22:46.675
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, absolutely. So, so amazing.
00:22:47.115 --> 00:22:52.015
Kevin Lowe: And what a just an amazing son that you raised.
00:22:52.455 --> 00:22:57.415
Kevin Lowe: What you just said, it really just kind of segues into the next kind of question
00:22:57.415 --> 00:23:03.675
Kevin Lowe: I wanted to ask you to talk about was, how do you guys do some outreach?
00:23:03.695 --> 00:23:08.475
Kevin Lowe: I know you guys did something with your church and you set up an organization.
00:23:08.915 --> 00:23:11.655
Kevin Lowe: Talk to me about that whole aspect.
00:23:12.500 --> 00:23:15.940
Christopher Cochran: Yeah, we set up what's called the Christian Cochran Legacy Fund.
00:23:16.100 --> 00:23:20.220
Christopher Cochran: It's through the Pittsburgh Foundation. I should actually say we didn't set
00:23:20.220 --> 00:23:23.840
Christopher Cochran: this up. My son Christian set it up, if you can believe that.
00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:30.040
Christopher Cochran: Prior to his death, he wanted us to set up a foundation that stuck to his core
00:23:30.040 --> 00:23:36.520
Christopher Cochran: values, his mission, which was to care for others, to give to others that are less fortunate.
00:23:36.780 --> 00:23:39.040
Christopher Cochran: He loved animals. He loved nature.
00:23:40.060 --> 00:23:45.540
Christopher Cochran: So he is really the person who set the foundation up. He guided me in where
00:23:45.540 --> 00:23:47.980
Christopher Cochran: I needed to go, knowing this was the ultimate outcome.
00:23:48.380 --> 00:23:51.520
Christopher Cochran: And he also wanted us to make sure we gave back to a church.
00:23:51.740 --> 00:23:52.820
Christopher Cochran: This is a church called St.
00:23:53.280 --> 00:23:58.000
Christopher Cochran: Stanislav's. It's the oldest Polish church in Pittsburgh. It's located in downtown Pittsburgh.
00:23:58.300 --> 00:24:01.740
Christopher Cochran: It's located in the most urban and awesome area of Pittsburgh.
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.840
Christopher Cochran: It's the hottest area in Pittsburgh, big crowds.
00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:08.200
Christopher Cochran: And right next to the church on the main street and 21st Street.
00:24:08.620 --> 00:24:15.300
Christopher Cochran: You cannot miss this. There are six boulders that are each a ton in weight that
00:24:15.300 --> 00:24:19.600
Christopher Cochran: have holes drilled through them with water coming out through the top and pouring
00:24:19.600 --> 00:24:22.880
Christopher Cochran: over these rocks with a beautiful angel in the middle and a beautiful plaque
00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.240
Christopher Cochran: called the What's Good About Today fountain.
00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:27.780
Christopher Cochran: It has a picture of Christian. It talks about Christian's legacy.
00:24:28.060 --> 00:24:31.920
Christopher Cochran: And on those things, he said, be kind to everyone because you never know what
00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:33.400
Christopher Cochran: someone is going through.
00:24:34.320 --> 00:24:37.060
Christopher Cochran: And so that's written there it's in
00:24:37.060 --> 00:24:40.380
Christopher Cochran: bronze it's it's beautiful picture of him but it's
00:24:40.380 --> 00:24:44.860
Christopher Cochran: seen by thousands and thousands and thousands of people across this country
00:24:44.860 --> 00:24:47.740
Christopher Cochran: and the world we've heard from people from all over the world who have seen
00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:51.780
Christopher Cochran: this and come and it's become a bit of a destination where people come to pittsburgh
00:24:51.780 --> 00:24:56.580
Christopher Cochran: they see this it's a beautiful landscape and it's a it's a testament to what
00:24:56.580 --> 00:25:00.340
Christopher Cochran: christian wanted us to get back to the church to the city of Pittsburgh.
00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:05.120
Christopher Cochran: And through the foundation, through the church, the diocese did it only six
00:25:05.120 --> 00:25:06.600
Christopher Cochran: months after Christian's passing.
00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:13.060
Christopher Cochran: So you can imagine for you to get the diocese blessing to take up land that
00:25:13.060 --> 00:25:17.840
Christopher Cochran: they own to put it on the most prominent area of Pittsburgh so everyone can
00:25:17.840 --> 00:25:20.080
Christopher Cochran: visually see this, that was important.
00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.720
Christopher Cochran: And the thing is important to know is Christian was a Christian,
00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:25.140
Christopher Cochran: obviously, but he was very spiritual.
00:25:25.400 --> 00:25:30.120
Christopher Cochran: He loved all faiths. He loved all people. He's the most inclusive individual you ever met.
00:25:30.460 --> 00:25:34.940
Christopher Cochran: And so that's what this talks about. It talks about Christian loving all people
00:25:34.940 --> 00:25:37.920
Christopher Cochran: and to bringing them into positivity.
00:25:38.360 --> 00:25:42.640
Christopher Cochran: And we're real proud of that, proud what Christian put together and what he wanted to do.
00:25:42.800 --> 00:25:46.880
Christopher Cochran: We just follow in his mantra and he's always the guiding light there.
00:25:47.860 --> 00:25:55.620
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. In terms of that and following in his mantra, how has it been for you to,
00:25:56.108 --> 00:26:03.508
Kevin Lowe: as a parent, after his passing, to not just want to close up and to not just
00:26:03.508 --> 00:26:07.188
Kevin Lowe: lock away the world and kind of forget about everything else.
00:26:07.588 --> 00:26:12.548
Kevin Lowe: And instead to be very outgoing with this.
00:26:12.728 --> 00:26:17.688
Kevin Lowe: I mean, obviously there's times, many times by yourself, the quiet family,
00:26:17.908 --> 00:26:22.008
Kevin Lowe: but the fact that you've kept going. You've written this book.
00:26:22.288 --> 00:26:26.228
Kevin Lowe: You guys pursued this with this amazing fountain.
00:26:26.688 --> 00:26:28.368
Kevin Lowe: How do you feel like you did that?
00:26:28.888 --> 00:26:32.588
Christopher Cochran: I wouldn't be honest or candid if I didn't tell you that the first year and
00:26:32.588 --> 00:26:37.128
Christopher Cochran: a half, I wasn't a mess, that I wasn't the best that I could be.
00:26:37.288 --> 00:26:40.788
Christopher Cochran: I don't think any of us were. We were in a daze. You're numb.
00:26:41.808 --> 00:26:46.188
Christopher Cochran: Christian's clothes are here in this house, right? His room has not changed
00:26:46.188 --> 00:26:48.508
Christopher Cochran: since he came home from college. His clothes are there.
00:26:48.708 --> 00:26:50.808
Christopher Cochran: His shoes are outside in the garage.
00:26:51.248 --> 00:26:56.368
Christopher Cochran: You know, there's nothing that's changed. On our street, people have green lights in there.
00:26:56.548 --> 00:27:00.768
Christopher Cochran: All the way down the street, there are lanterns that people still have that
00:27:00.768 --> 00:27:06.148
Christopher Cochran: Christian's favorite color was green that you see every night illuminate the streets.
00:27:06.848 --> 00:27:11.028
Christopher Cochran: So I'm always reminded of that. We are, as a family, reminded of that.
00:27:11.228 --> 00:27:14.968
Christopher Cochran: But for the first year to year and a half, I was not a healthy individual.
00:27:15.568 --> 00:27:19.828
Christopher Cochran: And not that I'm a drinker, but I certainly turn to anything that would take
00:27:19.828 --> 00:27:22.208
Christopher Cochran: me away that would allow me to fall asleep.
00:27:22.668 --> 00:27:25.488
Christopher Cochran: But I always remind myself of a quote.
00:27:25.628 --> 00:27:30.808
Christopher Cochran: Bruce Lee used to say a quote and it was powerful for me. It's a simple quote.
00:27:31.328 --> 00:27:37.808
Christopher Cochran: Don't pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.
00:27:38.188 --> 00:27:44.788
Christopher Cochran: And I used to say that to myself all the time because life is not easy. Life, it's tough.
00:27:45.528 --> 00:27:50.168
Christopher Cochran: But I think knowing what I know of Christian you said it earlier which he wants
00:27:50.168 --> 00:27:55.008
Christopher Cochran: us to be happy he wants us to be joyful I think happiness sometimes is an elusive
00:27:55.008 --> 00:27:56.668
Christopher Cochran: state for anybody right I
00:27:57.575 --> 00:28:00.915
Christopher Cochran: I look back and I was extremely happy then. Am I happy today?
00:28:01.655 --> 00:28:07.835
Christopher Cochran: No. I mean, I'm joyful moments. I have moments, pockets of joy that I try to build my heart up.
00:28:07.975 --> 00:28:13.955
Christopher Cochran: But to sit here and say that I'm happy, no, because I still struggle with it.
00:28:14.135 --> 00:28:19.555
Christopher Cochran: I struggle talking about it. I struggle. But I know at the heart of it is Christian.
00:28:20.055 --> 00:28:23.255
Christopher Cochran: And it's him telling me to push.
00:28:23.435 --> 00:28:28.335
Christopher Cochran: He's telling me, you have to be out there to help people. The message is too important.
00:28:28.635 --> 00:28:33.595
Christopher Cochran: That life is so precious. Life is so good. And if we narrow it down to the simplest
00:28:33.595 --> 00:28:36.715
Christopher Cochran: things that in our day, which it is, right?
00:28:36.835 --> 00:28:40.335
Christopher Cochran: You can have bad days, but you can find beauty in those days.
00:28:40.855 --> 00:28:46.195
Christopher Cochran: That's what drives me. That's what drives my family, drives my wife, you know, and my kids.
00:28:46.655 --> 00:28:50.815
Christopher Cochran: And so I don't think there's any other, to your point, which is either,
00:28:51.075 --> 00:28:55.975
Christopher Cochran: and a lot of people statistically break up. marriages break up when things like this happen.
00:28:56.375 --> 00:29:02.715
Christopher Cochran: It's well over 50% that marriages fall apart and families come apart because
00:29:02.715 --> 00:29:05.295
Christopher Cochran: of the grief. It's just so intense.
00:29:06.195 --> 00:29:09.475
Christopher Cochran: But we fought through it to stay loving.
00:29:10.935 --> 00:29:15.255
Christopher Cochran: I know it's such a cliche, you put one foot in front of the other, and it really is.
00:29:15.395 --> 00:29:19.015
Christopher Cochran: You have to just get up and focus on what you can do good today.
00:29:19.535 --> 00:29:24.455
Christopher Cochran: And Christian had this wonderful thing. Christian didn't have to-do list. He had to love list.
00:29:25.075 --> 00:29:31.155
Christopher Cochran: And so I think it's such a powerful thing that when I get up and we get up as
00:29:31.155 --> 00:29:34.515
Christopher Cochran: family, we don't have these to-do lists. Like I gotta get this done.
00:29:34.595 --> 00:29:37.435
Christopher Cochran: I gotta to love somebody. How do I love someone better?
00:29:37.775 --> 00:29:42.795
Christopher Cochran: How do I put more good into this world that's negative in so many ways?
00:29:42.975 --> 00:29:47.075
Christopher Cochran: So I just do what Christian does and follow that. And that's the point of the
00:29:47.075 --> 00:29:48.895
Christopher Cochran: book is that I tried to document those ways.
00:29:49.015 --> 00:29:51.195
Christopher Cochran: That you can do exactly the same thing.
00:29:51.835 --> 00:29:57.375
Kevin Lowe: Wow. Before we dive into the book, because that was honestly my next question,
00:29:57.535 --> 00:30:04.935
Kevin Lowe: but you spoke about the house, about his bedroom, about the shoes in the garage.
00:30:05.415 --> 00:30:10.235
Kevin Lowe: You mentioned earlier that Christian actually passed away at home.
00:30:11.275 --> 00:30:16.455
Kevin Lowe: Typically, we think of somebody being sick like that, maybe being in the hospital.
00:30:16.875 --> 00:30:17.315
Christopher Cochran: Yeah.
00:30:17.655 --> 00:30:20.015
Kevin Lowe: Was that a choice that you guys made?
00:30:20.375 --> 00:30:22.835
Christopher Cochran: It's a great question. You know, that's the first question. I've been a lot
00:30:22.835 --> 00:30:24.155
Christopher Cochran: of podcasts, lots of interviews.
00:30:24.395 --> 00:30:27.535
Christopher Cochran: No one's ever asked me that question. I think it's because they're worried of
00:30:27.535 --> 00:30:29.355
Christopher Cochran: what, you know, how's that going to come out?
00:30:29.595 --> 00:30:32.015
Christopher Cochran: It's a great question. I'm glad you asked it, by the way.
00:30:33.278 --> 00:30:38.558
Christopher Cochran: So it was a choice. It was a choice by Christian. It was a choice by all of us.
00:30:38.758 --> 00:30:45.118
Christopher Cochran: There was no way, no way that Christian was going to pass away in a hospital.
00:30:45.418 --> 00:30:50.338
Christopher Cochran: I didn't want that. He didn't want that. I wanted him surrounded by the love of his pets.
00:30:50.658 --> 00:30:54.238
Christopher Cochran: The home he was raised in where all the joy was.
00:30:54.778 --> 00:30:59.858
Christopher Cochran: That was important that we had that. Now, I will tell you three weeks prior,
00:31:00.178 --> 00:31:06.298
Christopher Cochran: the cancer had spread to his spine and there was a real chance he was going
00:31:06.298 --> 00:31:10.658
Christopher Cochran: to be, you know, paralyzed because the cancer was so aggressive.
00:31:10.658 --> 00:31:12.778
Christopher Cochran: So God bless Christian.
00:31:12.998 --> 00:31:16.378
Christopher Cochran: We talked about this. There was something they could do, a procedure,
00:31:16.878 --> 00:31:23.138
Christopher Cochran: not a very painful type of situation on the spine to allow that not to happen
00:31:23.138 --> 00:31:26.158
Christopher Cochran: so that he could be at home with us.
00:31:27.438 --> 00:31:33.438
Christopher Cochran: And we surrounded him. I'll tell you something that's – and I talk about it,
00:31:33.458 --> 00:31:37.578
Christopher Cochran: so it's not something I'll talk about. but there was a night when we thought
00:31:37.578 --> 00:31:42.118
Christopher Cochran: Christian's breathing had come very slow and we surrounded him.
00:31:42.298 --> 00:31:44.918
Christopher Cochran: And this is a testament to Christian's humor here.
00:31:45.258 --> 00:31:48.738
Christopher Cochran: We surrounded him. It was probably four, three o'clock in the morning.
00:31:48.738 --> 00:31:54.238
Christopher Cochran: I woke up everybody because I slept next to Christian in the living room and his girlfriend did too.
00:31:54.478 --> 00:31:58.378
Christopher Cochran: She had flown in. She stayed with us for well over a month to stay next to him.
00:31:59.058 --> 00:32:03.478
Christopher Cochran: And we surrounded him praying. We had candles, just telling him how much We loved him.
00:32:03.898 --> 00:32:07.118
Christopher Cochran: And at about six o'clock, his eyes open, looked at all of us.
00:32:07.178 --> 00:32:11.878
Christopher Cochran: And he said, we said, Hey, Christian. And he said, he says, did I miss something?
00:32:12.178 --> 00:32:16.778
Christopher Cochran: Did something happen? Like, and he just had this, it was in a way of being funny.
00:32:16.978 --> 00:32:20.598
Christopher Cochran: And we, we laughed and we said, well, Christian, we thought this was it.
00:32:20.638 --> 00:32:24.118
Christopher Cochran: And he's like, we said, we called the priest to come over here and the last rites.
00:32:24.258 --> 00:32:29.798
Christopher Cochran: And Christian said, Oh, you tell him, save, save the trip. I'm okay right now.
00:32:31.118 --> 00:32:33.918
Christopher Cochran: You know he just you know here he is he's
00:32:33.918 --> 00:32:37.518
Christopher Cochran: literally at the final point he says oh tell father
00:32:37.518 --> 00:32:44.298
Christopher Cochran: Tom and father Nick to to save the trip um you know um and and ultimately father
00:32:44.298 --> 00:32:48.978
Christopher Cochran: Nick did come out later on the day but but ultimately to talk to Christian privately
00:32:48.978 --> 00:32:53.998
Christopher Cochran: but but yeah he he made a joke of that situation we all laughed we're around
00:32:53.998 --> 00:32:55.978
Christopher Cochran: him crying but we're laughing.
00:32:56.418 --> 00:33:00.798
Christopher Cochran: And again, he just found a way to make us laugh and cry all at the same time.
00:33:00.938 --> 00:33:03.998
Christopher Cochran: And so one of the doctors said, you know, your son taught us how to live,
00:33:04.118 --> 00:33:07.818
Christopher Cochran: but he also taught us all how to die. And he did. It was a beauty.
00:33:08.078 --> 00:33:11.098
Christopher Cochran: And all that awfulness, there was so much beauty.
00:33:11.578 --> 00:33:14.498
Christopher Cochran: It's hard to explain how beautiful it really was.
00:33:15.378 --> 00:33:21.298
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Wow. I love what you just said about that. He taught you how to live,
00:33:21.478 --> 00:33:22.838
Kevin Lowe: but he also taught you how to die.
00:33:23.358 --> 00:33:32.558
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. That's what a beautiful summary of this little section of his life. Your book,
00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:40.139
Kevin Lowe: his book, what made you decide to even take on such a, such a task,
00:33:40.339 --> 00:33:45.059
Kevin Lowe: such a, such a responsibility, however you want to view it, but this,
00:33:45.179 --> 00:33:47.219
Kevin Lowe: this project of, of writing a book?
00:33:47.659 --> 00:33:53.959
Christopher Cochran: About a year and a half ago, I got that nudge from Christian to do something.
00:33:53.979 --> 00:33:55.659
Christopher Cochran: I didn't know what that was.
00:33:56.799 --> 00:34:01.699
Christopher Cochran: I knew I had to step up. I had to be a better person, a better parent,
00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:06.159
Christopher Cochran: a better personality, but it had to be something different than this person
00:34:06.159 --> 00:34:07.899
Christopher Cochran: who wanted just to stay in bed all day.
00:34:08.959 --> 00:34:15.819
Christopher Cochran: And I did, I got up, I started to go back. I journaled Christian's life when he got sick.
00:34:16.339 --> 00:34:20.919
Christopher Cochran: So I would, between midnight to four in the mornings, I was always journaling.
00:34:21.059 --> 00:34:23.879
Christopher Cochran: I didn't sleep, not very much, maybe catnaps here and there,
00:34:24.039 --> 00:34:27.879
Christopher Cochran: just to try to catch up. But I would write the journaling.
00:34:28.219 --> 00:34:32.379
Christopher Cochran: And so I had all these journals and I wanted to be able to capture some of those
00:34:32.379 --> 00:34:35.659
Christopher Cochran: journals in a story as part of the book, right?
00:34:35.879 --> 00:34:40.419
Christopher Cochran: And tell the story of how I met my wife and where we come from and what we did
00:34:40.419 --> 00:34:44.139
Christopher Cochran: and how this love story that was built around Christian.
00:34:45.519 --> 00:34:52.259
Christopher Cochran: But yeah, I just started going back in time and it's hard to relive those moments.
00:34:52.279 --> 00:34:54.379
Christopher Cochran: I haven't looked at it since, right?
00:34:54.539 --> 00:34:59.779
Christopher Cochran: I know a lot of it's in the book, but you piece it together because you want
00:34:59.779 --> 00:35:02.579
Christopher Cochran: it to flow well and tell a beautiful story.
00:35:03.079 --> 00:35:06.999
Christopher Cochran: But ultimately, yeah, it was Christian. He continues to drive me.
00:35:07.299 --> 00:35:11.059
Christopher Cochran: During the process, I wanted to stop. I couldn't do it.
00:35:11.839 --> 00:35:17.419
Christopher Cochran: But it was always Christian pushing me to do this and keep moving forward,
00:35:17.619 --> 00:35:19.299
Christopher Cochran: push yourself through difficult things.
00:35:20.099 --> 00:35:24.999
Christopher Cochran: And, um, that's what I did. And, and ultimately the, the book came out late August
00:35:25.739 --> 00:35:30.779
Christopher Cochran: and it's been, uh, I think an incredible success based on the things I hear
00:35:30.779 --> 00:35:34.919
Christopher Cochran: and then, and the reports I get, I think it's special to see that the book is
00:35:34.919 --> 00:35:37.819
Christopher Cochran: selling overseas in different countries.
00:35:37.839 --> 00:35:39.959
Christopher Cochran: And that's a really important thing.
00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:43.059
Christopher Cochran: And because I think it's a message that can spread everywhere.
00:35:43.059 --> 00:35:45.539
Christopher Cochran: It's a simple phrase, right? What's good about today.
00:35:45.919 --> 00:35:49.699
Christopher Cochran: And you can, in, in, if you look at it and ask that question of yourself,
00:35:50.279 --> 00:35:52.659
Christopher Cochran: it can have a big impact. So yeah, Christian drove me.
00:35:53.019 --> 00:35:56.439
Christopher Cochran: He still continues to drive me to do the things I do. To be here with you today,
00:35:56.919 --> 00:36:00.939
Christopher Cochran: it's always Christian driving me, inspires me to do good things and talk.
00:36:01.339 --> 00:36:06.359
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, I love it so much. Is there something in the book that maybe you could
00:36:06.359 --> 00:36:10.319
Kevin Lowe: share, maybe a story that you wrote that maybe you haven't really touched on
00:36:10.319 --> 00:36:16.119
Kevin Lowe: today to give us a little bit deeper insight into exactly the power of this book?
00:36:16.119 --> 00:36:22.359
Christopher Cochran: Yeah, one of the things I talk about, I talk about faith, right, and spirituality.
00:36:23.279 --> 00:36:26.239
Christopher Cochran: And one of the things Christian always does,
00:36:26.761 --> 00:36:34.661
Christopher Cochran: talked about was his connections with Buddhism and Judaism, and of course, the Christian faith.
00:36:34.821 --> 00:36:37.321
Christopher Cochran: But one of the things he also talked about was talism.
00:36:37.581 --> 00:36:40.901
Christopher Cochran: So, you know, talism is about flowing with the river.
00:36:41.201 --> 00:36:46.641
Christopher Cochran: There's a lot of discussion of how talism talks about how we move with the grace
00:36:46.641 --> 00:36:51.061
Christopher Cochran: of water and to let our lives flow like water.
00:36:51.161 --> 00:36:54.341
Christopher Cochran: And Christian believe that don't fight the current.
00:36:54.941 --> 00:37:00.321
Christopher Cochran: Much of us, we fight that current. And there's a whole chapter on Christian's Tao,
00:37:00.561 --> 00:37:05.681
Christopher Cochran: which is to talk about how he didn't fight that river and that he understood
00:37:05.681 --> 00:37:13.241
Christopher Cochran: that life is an easier path when you follow the stream and you flow with how things go in this world,
00:37:13.481 --> 00:37:20.721
Christopher Cochran: that you can lead a better life and you can become closer to your fellow man,
00:37:21.381 --> 00:37:27.121
Christopher Cochran: connect better, and understand your circumstances no matter how dire they can get.
00:37:27.481 --> 00:37:30.581
Christopher Cochran: So I think that's a tidbit. We didn't really talk about that,
00:37:30.581 --> 00:37:35.001
Christopher Cochran: but, you know, I think I tried to capture a lot of what I believed,
00:37:35.001 --> 00:37:36.621
Christopher Cochran: you know, Christian used to
00:37:36.621 --> 00:37:41.321
Christopher Cochran: discuss with us and how he looked at the world that way through his eyes.
00:37:41.621 --> 00:37:44.381
Christopher Cochran: So I think it was an important part of the book.
00:37:44.381 --> 00:37:48.241
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. After publishing this book,
00:37:48.881 --> 00:37:55.041
Kevin Lowe: starting speaking publicly about Christian story, coming on podcasts like this,
00:37:55.241 --> 00:38:03.301
Kevin Lowe: how has it maybe helped you in the whole grieving process?
00:38:04.101 --> 00:38:08.081
Christopher Cochran: Well, I think everybody goes through grief, some form or fashion.
00:38:08.321 --> 00:38:12.641
Christopher Cochran: It's the commonality that we all have in this life that we're all here.
00:38:13.021 --> 00:38:16.781
Christopher Cochran: Someone's going to pass away that's close to us. But I've realized that when
00:38:16.781 --> 00:38:19.521
Christopher Cochran: you get through these things, this is really about two things.
00:38:19.661 --> 00:38:24.621
Christopher Cochran: One is absolutely always show humbleness, humbleness before God,
00:38:24.741 --> 00:38:27.661
Christopher Cochran: humble before everybody, humble in your life.
00:38:28.241 --> 00:38:30.901
Christopher Cochran: And the second thing is to realize you're not in control.
00:38:32.141 --> 00:38:36.901
Christopher Cochran: You think you're in control, but ultimately God is the one who controls how things work.
00:38:37.281 --> 00:38:40.921
Christopher Cochran: And we're just here to make the best of things.
00:38:41.261 --> 00:38:45.321
Christopher Cochran: But I think one of the things that it's taught me is that, you know,
00:38:45.421 --> 00:38:46.921
Christopher Cochran: really there are three things that it's taught me.
00:38:47.021 --> 00:38:50.221
Christopher Cochran: One is the power of perspective, right?
00:38:50.521 --> 00:38:55.961
Christopher Cochran: I believe that every day you got to ask yourself this, what's good about today
00:38:55.961 --> 00:39:00.381
Christopher Cochran: and focus on that because that gives you some perspective. I also think that
00:39:00.381 --> 00:39:03.401
Christopher Cochran: there's something resilience and choice.
00:39:04.481 --> 00:39:08.621
Christopher Cochran: And I think, you know, watching Christian endure these endless treatments,
00:39:08.881 --> 00:39:12.161
Christopher Cochran: therapies, surgeries, I realized something profound.
00:39:13.121 --> 00:39:18.941
Christopher Cochran: Resilience isn't a trait. It's a decision. Right. So resilience isn't a trait. It's a decision.
00:39:19.141 --> 00:39:23.921
Christopher Cochran: And Christian made the decision every single day to be positive and to be funny
00:39:23.921 --> 00:39:26.261
Christopher Cochran: and to face these challenges.
00:39:26.581 --> 00:39:28.921
Christopher Cochran: And then ultimately, it's leave a legacy.
00:39:29.301 --> 00:39:31.081
Christopher Cochran: Legacies are built on small moments.
00:39:31.661 --> 00:39:38.661
Christopher Cochran: Right. And I try to remind that every interaction we have, every small kindness,
00:39:38.841 --> 00:39:41.721
Christopher Cochran: every smile, that's what people remember.
00:39:41.781 --> 00:39:45.701
Christopher Cochran: Because it's easy to get caught up in wanting to achieve big things.
00:39:45.721 --> 00:39:51.561
Christopher Cochran: But the truth is our greatest legacies is built every day in the smallest of moments.
00:39:51.561 --> 00:39:58.321
Christopher Cochran: So when you, you know, narrow it down to small moments and you can make sure
00:39:58.321 --> 00:40:04.681
Christopher Cochran: that you have resilience of your choice and you have a strong power of perspective.
00:40:04.981 --> 00:40:08.021
Christopher Cochran: Those are three things I think you can take away daily.
00:40:08.501 --> 00:40:14.941
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, I love it. Before we continue for somebody hearing us talk about your
00:40:14.941 --> 00:40:19.541
Kevin Lowe: book, where is the best place for people to find your book at?
00:40:19.541 --> 00:40:23.661
Christopher Cochran: So the book is available for global distribution. It can be found online.
00:40:23.821 --> 00:40:26.721
Christopher Cochran: Again, it's What's Good About Today, A Purpose Driven Life.
00:40:26.881 --> 00:40:29.121
Christopher Cochran: You certainly could Google Christian Cochran.
00:40:29.301 --> 00:40:31.881
Christopher Cochran: You'll probably get all kinds of information on Christian.
00:40:32.081 --> 00:40:36.281
Christopher Cochran: And that's the most important thing. There's certainly christiancochran.org.
00:40:36.441 --> 00:40:39.181
Christopher Cochran: That talks about all the things we're doing in Christian's name,
00:40:39.441 --> 00:40:44.001
Christopher Cochran: the foundation, the things he cared about, the stories about Christian,
00:40:44.201 --> 00:40:45.761
Christopher Cochran: certainly pictures about Christian.
00:40:46.701 --> 00:40:50.681
Christopher Cochran: And you can certainly find the book at Amazon.
00:40:51.081 --> 00:40:54.241
Christopher Cochran: So it's on Amazon and you can find Barnes & Noble.
00:40:54.541 --> 00:40:59.481
Christopher Cochran: But I think it's in almost most all, I mean, it's certainly in Christian stores,
00:40:59.501 --> 00:41:01.061
Christopher Cochran: it's in different locations.
00:41:01.081 --> 00:41:05.221
Christopher Cochran: So if you can't get it at Barnes & Noble on site, you can order it from there.
00:41:05.341 --> 00:41:10.941
Christopher Cochran: But online, it's a pretty easy thing. You get it, they make it so easy now to get these books.
00:41:11.221 --> 00:41:13.361
Christopher Cochran: You could order it today. You probably have it by tomorrow.
00:41:14.101 --> 00:41:18.721
Christopher Cochran: So, yeah, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and any retailer that sells books.
00:41:19.401 --> 00:41:24.161
Kevin Lowe: Well, fantastic. Well, I will be positive that all of that is in the show notes
00:41:24.161 --> 00:41:31.081
Kevin Lowe: for anybody interested for making that super easy to access to get a hold of this book.
00:41:31.541 --> 00:41:36.021
Kevin Lowe: Because I think it's, as we've heard it, it's more than a book.
00:41:36.541 --> 00:41:41.801
Kevin Lowe: I mean, it's honestly like a manual for how to live life like Christian.
00:41:42.201 --> 00:41:50.721
Kevin Lowe: And as you talk today, I mean, it's obvious, no doubt, that your son was a one of a kind.
00:41:50.981 --> 00:41:57.121
Kevin Lowe: And you even made mention of it that he lived a lot in his life.
00:41:58.522 --> 00:42:06.442
Kevin Lowe: And it's like, it's like it was all meant to be, you know, it's like sometimes
00:42:06.442 --> 00:42:11.162
Kevin Lowe: there's some people who God knows they're going to leave a massive impact really quick.
00:42:11.162 --> 00:42:14.122
Kevin Lowe: Maybe others, it's going to be a little bit longer time.
00:42:15.842 --> 00:42:23.182
Kevin Lowe: And as much as all of us wish that no one had to leave, the fact of the legacy
00:42:23.182 --> 00:42:28.542
Kevin Lowe: that your son has left on this world is absolutely beautiful.
00:42:29.802 --> 00:42:32.902
Christopher Cochran: Thank you. Thank you, Kevin. Appreciate that.
00:42:33.342 --> 00:42:33.702
Kevin Lowe: Yeah.
00:42:33.842 --> 00:42:38.802
Christopher Cochran: I agree with you. I agree with you. Yeah, I mean, I appreciate saying it is
00:42:38.802 --> 00:42:42.042
Christopher Cochran: a robe. I always refer to it as a roadmap, right?
00:42:42.782 --> 00:42:47.562
Christopher Cochran: It's a roadmap to find purpose. I still continue to use the book as a roadmap.
00:42:47.722 --> 00:42:51.802
Christopher Cochran: At the end of every chapter, it does give examples of how, you know,
00:42:51.922 --> 00:42:56.762
Christopher Cochran: it sort of paraphrases the chapter at the end of every chapter to give people
00:42:56.762 --> 00:43:00.382
Christopher Cochran: useful tools to use in their daily life the way Christian did.
00:43:00.522 --> 00:43:06.262
Christopher Cochran: And so I'm still striving for that. I'm still striving to lead a purposely driven life.
00:43:06.302 --> 00:43:10.122
Christopher Cochran: I think everybody is, right? We're all trying to figure out, why are we here?
00:43:10.282 --> 00:43:13.042
Christopher Cochran: What's next? Why did God put me here?
00:43:13.842 --> 00:43:20.762
Christopher Cochran: Why any of these things? But I think past the why, it's how we interact with
00:43:20.762 --> 00:43:23.062
Christopher Cochran: others, how we go about our daily life.
00:43:23.162 --> 00:43:25.382
Christopher Cochran: And so I think you're right, Christian.
00:43:25.942 --> 00:43:30.922
Christopher Cochran: I have to believe that this was divine, the way God sets this out to be, right?
00:43:31.202 --> 00:43:35.682
Christopher Cochran: I used to say to Christian, even when he was little, I always said this to Christian.
00:43:36.042 --> 00:43:38.362
Christopher Cochran: I mean, when I was a little kid, I would say, when I grew up,
00:43:38.482 --> 00:43:39.782
Christopher Cochran: Krishna, I want to be just like you.
00:43:40.536 --> 00:43:45.796
Christopher Cochran: And, and I said that to him all the time because he just, that's how he,
00:43:45.896 --> 00:43:50.176
Christopher Cochran: he led that, he kept leading this purposely driven life, whether it was traveling,
00:43:50.376 --> 00:43:52.316
Christopher Cochran: connecting, helping those who are struggling.
00:43:52.876 --> 00:43:56.876
Christopher Cochran: I document letters. There are letters from people in the book that,
00:43:56.876 --> 00:44:00.976
Christopher Cochran: that I didn't know about Christian, right? I knew he's a great person.
00:44:01.116 --> 00:44:03.816
Christopher Cochran: I knew he did all these wonders and he was a wonderful human being,
00:44:03.816 --> 00:44:07.416
Christopher Cochran: but people would reach out to me that spent five minutes and how he changed
00:44:07.416 --> 00:44:11.556
Christopher Cochran: their life. or I'd have old friends who are not included in something.
00:44:11.996 --> 00:44:16.756
Christopher Cochran: One in particular story, a girl who was at college, she had sat down at the lunch table.
00:44:16.876 --> 00:44:20.496
Christopher Cochran: Christian was over with his friends. This is in college and she was by herself.
00:44:20.656 --> 00:44:26.556
Christopher Cochran: And Christian had this incredible, I mean, oh, there's not enough words to describe
00:44:26.556 --> 00:44:28.636
Christopher Cochran: it. He understood people's pain.
00:44:29.096 --> 00:44:32.696
Christopher Cochran: He could see it and he would go to it. He didn't run away from it.
00:44:32.916 --> 00:44:35.916
Christopher Cochran: And so if he saw you were in pain, he saw you were isolated.
00:44:36.516 --> 00:44:40.236
Christopher Cochran: She told me the story that Christian came to her and sat with her and introduced himself.
00:44:41.096 --> 00:44:45.836
Christopher Cochran: And she said, I was in the worst place possible. I was in a very bad place.
00:44:45.956 --> 00:44:50.896
Christopher Cochran: And your son brought me so much joy and light. He brought me into his friend group.
00:44:51.236 --> 00:44:55.736
Christopher Cochran: He introduced me at that moment, said that he was one, I was one of them.
00:44:55.936 --> 00:45:00.336
Christopher Cochran: And he would take whatever she needed when she was struggling.
00:45:00.876 --> 00:45:07.596
Christopher Cochran: It's just, it's one of hundreds of stories that I recount in the book and talk about.
00:45:07.916 --> 00:45:13.556
Christopher Cochran: I think it brings me peace to know that Christian was doing all the right things
00:45:13.556 --> 00:45:18.276
Christopher Cochran: in this life to get him to where he wanted to go in the next life, ultimately.
00:45:19.276 --> 00:45:26.856
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. To close out our conversation today, there's so much that your son has
00:45:26.856 --> 00:45:30.376
Kevin Lowe: taught us about living, about dying.
00:45:30.916 --> 00:45:36.396
Kevin Lowe: But if you had to just leave us with one thing, what is that one thing that
00:45:36.396 --> 00:45:40.856
Kevin Lowe: you want every person listening today to remember about your son?
00:45:41.616 --> 00:45:46.716
Christopher Cochran: Life will hand us challenges. It will bring us to our knees.
00:45:47.056 --> 00:45:53.656
Christopher Cochran: And sometimes we won't know how to move forward. But there's one thing Christian taught me. It's this.
00:45:53.876 --> 00:45:57.476
Christopher Cochran: There's always something good about today. It It might be small,
00:45:57.676 --> 00:46:00.316
Christopher Cochran: it might be hidden, but it's there.
00:46:01.016 --> 00:46:05.196
Christopher Cochran: When we choose to focus on that, when we embrace resilience,
00:46:05.516 --> 00:46:09.996
Christopher Cochran: when we commit to creating a legacy built on love, kindness, and courage,
00:46:10.829 --> 00:46:17.309
Christopher Cochran: We don't just survive, we thrive. So I would leave everyone with that and hope
00:46:17.309 --> 00:46:21.669
Christopher Cochran: that people wake up, whether it's in the morning, it's in the afternoon,
00:46:21.709 --> 00:46:23.169
Christopher Cochran: or it's before you go to bed,
00:46:23.409 --> 00:46:27.289
Christopher Cochran: is to remind yourself what's good about today.
00:46:27.429 --> 00:46:33.349
Christopher Cochran: Because I really, really believe it can help guide anyone moving forward.
00:46:34.069 --> 00:46:40.129
Kevin Lowe: Absolutely. Christopher, thank you, man, from the bottom of my heart for,
00:46:40.129 --> 00:46:45.909
Kevin Lowe: for being here, for, for sharing the story about your family,
00:46:46.329 --> 00:46:50.629
Kevin Lowe: about your son, with me, with my audience. It means the world to me.
00:46:50.909 --> 00:46:53.289
Kevin Lowe: And I can't say thank you enough.
00:46:53.509 --> 00:46:58.869
Christopher Cochran: Well, thank you, Kevin. I want to thank you. You've shared your story and it
00:46:58.869 --> 00:47:03.089
Christopher Cochran: always brings me so much joyfulness to my heart.
00:47:03.249 --> 00:47:07.509
Christopher Cochran: When I hear your story, how you've strong resilience, how you lead your life.
00:47:07.829 --> 00:47:11.329
Christopher Cochran: I love when you speak, you are filled with so much happiness.
00:47:11.549 --> 00:47:14.949
Christopher Cochran: You have it. You just got, you've got that thing, Kevin. That's the thing.
00:47:15.089 --> 00:47:16.809
Christopher Cochran: You and Christian have this thing.
00:47:17.209 --> 00:47:20.769
Christopher Cochran: Not many people have it. I don't have it. That's the thing.
00:47:21.149 --> 00:47:27.329
Christopher Cochran: But you have it. And it's a way to bring absolute smiles to someone's face.
00:47:27.449 --> 00:47:29.029
Christopher Cochran: And so I want to thank you.
00:47:29.329 --> 00:47:32.629
Christopher Cochran: Thank you for the opportunity to get to meet you. I know it was divine intervention
00:47:32.629 --> 00:47:34.289
Christopher Cochran: that Christian brought us together for sure.
00:47:35.069 --> 00:47:39.069
Kevin Lowe: Absolutely. Well, thank you. That truly means the world to me.
00:47:39.609 --> 00:47:45.269
Kevin Lowe: And for you listening today, of course, I don't know if you clicked on today's
00:47:45.269 --> 00:47:47.569
Kevin Lowe: episode expecting to hear what you heard today.
00:47:47.909 --> 00:47:53.309
Kevin Lowe: It was a story combined with lessons about living, about dying.
00:47:53.669 --> 00:47:57.069
Kevin Lowe: A story about a father, about a son, about a family.
00:47:57.469 --> 00:48:03.309
Kevin Lowe: But more than anything else, I think it's a story that turns to you and asks
00:48:03.309 --> 00:48:09.369
Kevin Lowe: you one important question. today, tomorrow, and every day, what's good about today?
00:48:09.520 --> 00:48:30.000
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