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January 5, 1962 - October 28, 2007 To my extended Perry family:
Warmest regards, View a tiny bit of my boy's life - video SILK Christopher John, age 45, Final Voyage - January 5, 1962 - October 28, 2007. Chris truly was an exceptional young man with a true passion for life and a determination to beat the odds. In 1996 Chris suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him paralyzed on his right side and unable to speak. In spite of this deficit and the ominous predictions of doctors he learned to walk, talk and do the everyday things we do without trying. In 2005 he decided to leave the cold North and move to Sarasota FL where the more favorable weather would be gentler for him. This endeavor soon proved a very worth while experience for him. He was never happier socializing with his peers and participating in outings where he went bowling, shot billiards and fished. Then one day in January 2007 and without warning, Chris was given yet one more challenge. He began a vigorous fight with throat cancer. Being the trooper he is he gave this uphill battle his very best until the end and without fear of the outcome. He truly believed in God and got solace knowing he would again be a whole person in heaven, able to run and talk. He knows his dearest grandparents are waiting for him and he tells us not to worry because he will be saving a great spot for us when our time arrives. Chris has truly made a very positive difference in the lives of everyone he touched. He taught us to be courageous, show compassion, to give unselfishly and never take anything for granted. Chris is survived by his loving family, Helene and Brittany Lindstrom, Darlene, Joe, Lindsay and Joey Donegan, his daughter Lane Silk and parents Catherine and Stephen Silk. Services to be held Thursday November 1, 6-9 PM at Vander May Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, NJ 07470. Celebration Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church - 10:30 Friday November 2, 2007. Dear Steve, I send you my sympathy. How sad this is for you. Thank you
for everything you have done on the USS Perry reunions and web
stuff. Everyone I know is sad for you at this huge loss. My dad
is the one who I bought the ships bell in memory of. Bill Taylor.
This poem is for your son Chris: I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says: “There, she is gone!” “Gone where?” Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: “There, she is gone!” there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: “Here she comes!” And that is dying. Henry Van Dyke
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While it grieves
me deeply to write this email, it also helps ease the pain we
suffer over the loss of our son Chris on October 28, 2007. In
gratitude for all your expressions of sympathy please let me
share a bit of my boys life so you may get to know him some.