Chad had this inquisitive spirit that often led him to do some pretty wild things. If he dared to ask himself if something was possible, he was most likely going to try it and see. Being his older brother, I should have been the one that was getting him into trouble by encouraging him to do things he shouldn’t do, but oftentimes, Chad was the one pushing me. I’m not saying that I never got him in trouble, but he took more leadership in that department than I did.

Is It Possible?

For example, when he was maybe 8 years old, and I was 10, I was chasing him and his friend Bill through a dilapidated old house. Most of the walls were missing and it was really just a frame with a lot of dangerous rubble laying around. We shouldn’t have been there in the first place, but it was one of his favorite places, and he seemed to have all the dangers, like exposed nails, mapped out. As I was chasing him, he ran upstairs, got himself onto the roof, and then ran and jumped to the ground. It seemed impossible for me, so I took the stairs down instead.

The Challenger Bee

A few days later, I asked him how he could do it. He described how you have to roll when you land. He then proceeded to take me to the roof of our own house to demonstrate. We were both on the roof, he jumps, lands and rolls, gets up, and says “Your turn”. I looked down at what seemed to be an extreme height and was crippled by fear. I told him that I couldn’t do it. So to encourage me, he climbed back up, stood behind me, and said, just imagine that I am a giant bee that is going to sting you if you don’t jump. After a lot more coaxing, I finally jumped. It was exhilarating! I was hooked. It became one of our favorite things to do for a while. We tested to see if umbrellas would act as parachutes (they don’t). We played spy vs. spy games, jumping from the roof, our trees, and anywhere high enough to make it fun.

Later, he challenged me to do some crazy flips and dives from the high diving board at the pool. I could never compete with the things he could do. In his teenage years, he self-learned back-yard gymnastics, where he would be doing multiple back-flips in a row. He could run up a tree trunk or a wall to a back-flip. It was like watching something out of a Bruce Lee movie. He just seemed to have no fear.

Jack of All Trades, Master of All

Throughout our lives, the challenges never really stopped. Chad would challenge himself to do something new and then not just do it, but become a master. He always inspired me and others in that way. In the mid-90’s he became a successful 3D animator, developed some of the first websites on the internet. He developed games, composed music, creating masterpiece paintings and art, built a Godzilla cake for my boy Sky’s birthday, and on and on. It really seemed that there was nothing that Chad couldn’t do and master.

Chad dared to go big, and inspired others around him, myself included, to do the same. He had a lot to give and gave a lot. He will continue to be a driving force in my life to do more and do better. He will be that huge bee behind me, threatening to sting, if I don’t jump. I hope that he will also continue to be part of that spirit in others that knew him. I am fortunate that you are my brother, and I will miss you Chad.