What he left behind: The Warrior Spirit.
When we were in grade school, my brother James, Matthew and I had a strong desire to learn self defense. Growing up we watched Chuck Norris serve “Truth and Justice” to the criminals on his very popular show “Walker, Texas Ranger”. The show focused on giving bad guys some...
What He Didn’t Understand: The Pursuit of Happiness
(All Quotations are from James Stephen Cooper’s final letter to family unless otherwise noted.) “I no longer have any tears to shed, no hopes, no dreams, no aspirations at all. I only wish to be done with this life..” In his final days, James struggled with feelings of loneliness...
What happened? A Family account of James’ last day
Over the weekend my coworker and I had finished working a long day and had gotten back our hotel, and were about to call it a night. As we had been working for several weeks already down in Texas, close to a 70 hour work week, without a day...
The Oak Tree of Hope
James early demise was not in vain. As a gesture of love and fidelity towards him, his loved ones have had a tree planted as a way to honor him. Working with the city’s local parks and recreation department, Robert and Angie Morgan, close friends and neighbors of our...
A Fallen Warriors’ Memorandum
James was a true renaissance man at heart; the knowledge and skills he had acquired in the 25 years of his life demonstrated his broad categories of refined and diversified taste. Depending on whom you asked James was a talented chef, a student of the culinary arts in the...