He was mine and I was his.

I don't think I'll be able to finish this. But I also know that if Justin could talk to me that he would ask me to try.  See, Justin wasn't the kind of person to tell you to do something.  He would ask you very nicely and politely.  Although our kids may beg to differ.   Besides my wife, Justin was the only person authorized to spank our kids if he felt they needed it.  I told him that I wouldn't even ask why he did it.  That's because I knew what was in his heart and I trusted him completely.  Of course he never did.

Justin was born in Kokomo, Indiana in 1974.  We grew up together running in the woods and streams in Carroll County in Indiana.  We fished, hunted and ran a trap line together.  And as we went into high school, we mostly put up the fishing poles and shotguns, played sports and just had lot of fun.  Probably too much fun.

After graduating high school I went into the army and Justin went on to get an aviation mechanic degree and so we grew apart.  Sometimes going years without seeing each other.  Early in his adult life Justin did face some struggles.  In 2002 I received a call from a mutual friend that my little brother needed me.  So the next day I drove up to Indiana and brought him back to Alabama.  And since that day Justin worked his butt off to make his daughter, my parents and me proud.  And boy did he ever.    In the last decade, he went from working security, to accepting a contract position in Kuwait, until finally getting enough certifications to become an IT System's Administrator at MTSI.

In the last few months, he was focused on providing for his daughter's wedding and looking forward to walking her down the aisle and giving her away.  I know this because every Saturday night we would set at our computers at each other's houses and talk for hours on discord (voice over network app).  We'd talk about each other's lives, we'd talk smack about UFC fighters, we'd chat about bitcoin and we'd argue about Donald Trump.  But we both knew that no argument was more important than our bond we shared.

In closing I want to thank my parents for giving me Justin.  I want to thank Richard Kale for saving Justin.  And I want to thank God for allowing me to get much closer to Justin in these last few years.  I also want to thank all of Justin's friends who came today and say that I'm sorry for your loss as well.  From the number of calls and messages I've received it's clear that it's not just my family's hearts that are hurting.

We love you Justin and we will do our best to lift your daughter up in the days ahead.

He was mine and I was his.

Gofundme for his daughter:

https://gofund.me/ae340f84