October 2, 2024 • 20 mins
Author, speaker, and above all, father, Chris Cochran, shares the equally tragic and uplifting story of his son Christian and how he's carrying on his son's legacy through the Christian Cochran Legacy Fund, the way acceptance leads to gratitude, why to make To-Love lists instead of To-Do lists, and the one universal thing we all deal with.
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Episode Transcript
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Gary Michels (00:00):
Welcome to Let's Talk Legacy. I'm your host, Gary
(00:02):
Michels, and today we're reallyexcited to have Christopher
Cochran on. Chris is an author,a speaker, and above all, a
father. As the founder of theChristian Cochran Legacy Fund,
he works to carry on his son'slegacy, promoting Christians,
humility, kindness, joy,gratitude, self, sacrifice,
selflessness, courage andunconditional love for all. And
(00:24):
I really believe we're gonnalearn a lot more about his son
and a lot more about Chris andnext little time we have here
together. And so welcome to theshow, Chris.
Chris Cochran (00:32):
Thank you, Gary, it's a pleasure to be here. Love
your show.
Gary Michels (00:34):
Thank you. So let's start right there. Tell us
a little bit about Christianwhat type of a man was he? What
was he like? What kind of effectdid he have on others around
him? Tell us a little bit aboutyour son.
Chris Cochran (00:46):
Wow. How much time do you have?
Listen,Christian was the mostamazing, remarkable. There's no
earthly terms and earthly wordsI can come up with to describe
Christian to the full extent.Right? He had deep love for his
fellow man and woman and allpeople, all cultures, all
religions, all everything. Inthe end, of course, he's my son.
(01:08):
I love him dearly. I tend tospeak to him as he is in the
presence. But Christian was anamazing individual, just from
the day he was born to themoment he took his last breath.
And I was with him at bothevents. Since he was a child, he
was so compassionate for others.It was an unusual trait. Even
before 13 months, he wasspeaking in full sentences,
(01:28):
which was pretty unusual. I knewthis kid was destined for
something special. He had thisincredible ability to see the
goodness in everything. Evenwhen he was little, he was a
very we called him Mr. Comforterall the time, because he could
comfort us. Even as adults, hecould make us feel good. He did
that for other children. Iremember the first day of school
getting on the bus. You know,kids clamor they want to get on
(01:50):
the bus, and we get the bestseat they want to be in,
whatever with their best friendChristian, was always making
sure he was the last person onthe bus, because he wanted
everyone to be happy, to havewhat they wanted on that bus.
And as a young adult, he wasincredibly talented, the prom
king in school, a big schoolhere in Pennsylvania, I'm in
Pittsburgh, he was the leadactor in every drama. He was in
(02:10):
every play and every musical.And he had been in a movie and a
Batman movie. He was kind of ontrack to do the things he wanted
he was going to head to, likegraduate from college, and he
felt a pain in his back. We hadjust come back from a vacation
out in Vegas, Christmas in 2020,and we had a beautiful time as a
family, and this pain just cameup and just thought it was
(02:32):
normally. I was a healthy,young, good looking boy.
Eventually the pain became so sobad that we had a blood test.
Told to go see a CT scan. Thiswas during covid, so I was asked
to go meet at the doctor'soffice. Six people came in white
coats. Their faces were coveredwith masks. I could only see
their eyes, but I knew at thatmoment, I kept reassuring
Christian as we arrived, it'sgoing to be okay. Things gonna
(02:54):
be fine. We'll be back to ourregular life. And they
immediately came in and said,Christian, you have a grapefruit
size tumor on your liver at thistime, we didn't know exactly
what it was at that moment, whatkind of cancer, bile duct
cancer, it's a less than 1%chance of of living. You're
lucky if you live six months. SoChristian was given a terminal
(03:14):
diagnosis. I remember asparents, we were heartbroken,
and we said we're so sorry,Christian that you have to deal
with this. He said, It's okay. Iwould never want this on anyone
else. I want this to be myburden. He said, I am so
grateful to you guys. He Henever complained one time.
Moment he got his diagnosis tothe day he took his last breath.
(03:35):
He never complained one time.All we cared about was everyone
else around him and how the leada good life for the remainder of
his life. That's why the titleof the book is, what's good
about today is because when wewould cry and we would say, you
know how horrible this was forus and him and the family, he
would say, No, what's good abouttoday? And it was his daily
(03:59):
reminder about all the good, allthe beauty you can find in a
day. Even in the worst ofcircumstances, when things are
not going your way, you can findnuggets of goodness and beauty
in every single day. So it was,you know, obviously a tough day,
a tough year, a tough every day,but through all that, that's
(04:21):
where we found the the strengthof Christian, you know, he, he
exemplified this incrediblestrength and goodness that to
me, yeah, I had to, that's why Ihad to tell the story, believe
it or not, the Foundation cameup prior to Christian's death,
because I knew he was going topass.
Gary Michels (04:36):
Was it Christian that came to you and said, Dad,
I want to start a foundation?
Chris Cochran (04:40):
So, yeah, Christian, prior to Christian's
passing, we had, you know, theseare conversations as a father,
you don't want to have with your22 year old son, but we would
talk, but Christian was veryconscious of it all, and would
say, you know, Dad, how are wegoing to take care of, you know,
those who are less fortunate?Christian was big into how to
help others, so he said, it'd begreat if we could, you. Know,
(05:00):
build something to help those inareas where there's poverty
areas things that Christiancared about his legacy, and it
was called the ChristianCochrane legacy fund through the
Pittsburgh Foundation, was builtbased on Christian's ideals of
where he wanted to help people.It was, you know, low income
areas, the kids who werestruggling in school. We get to
Animal Resources. We give toparks and natural resources.
(05:23):
There's all kinds of camps wegive to. It was Christian's
idea. Christian came to us withthat idea and said, you know,
this is what I'd like to do. Wedo a tremendous amount of work
in something called Yasu withyoung adult survivors united.
That's where a lot of the effortgoes in to help those young
adults who are stricken withcancer. It's an underserved
area, but those young adults whoare really just they came out of
(05:46):
their their shell, they're readyto take on the world, none of
the sudden, they get hit withthis. And what I found is that
those individuals have lessresources, right? They're no
longer attached to theirparents, they're on their own.
They don't have the moneyChristian would give to
everybody. So, you know, wewould, we only have so many
resources that we can give tobut you know, we're also
implementing what's good abouttoday in lesson plans, which I
(06:08):
think, to me, is extraordinaryin terms of the Legacy Fund. And
what we're trying to do is tohelp spread how kids can come in
in the morning. You know, what'sgood about today? They write
down what's good about theirtoday. At the end of the day,
they erase that next day, theystart over. But it allows
teachers to identify those kidswho are having problems in their
day and those who are doing youknow really well. But it also
(06:30):
gives kids an idea of what youknow look there is lots of
bright things in the day.
Gary Michels (06:35):
What did you learn from from the time you do that
diagnosis he was able to livewhat? What did you learn from
that, that you could share withothers?
Chris Cochran (06:43):
I learned mostly that it's about giving all of
yourself to others, right? I Ialways say there's kind of this
pre cancer Chris, and there'skind of after cancer. Chris, I
don't even identify with the guypre cancer. My mind was in a
different mindset. It was allgold related to achieve. Keep up
with the Joneses, all thosecrazy, wacky things in this
(07:06):
world we have to deal with. ButI think what it taught me is to
reflect. It taught me. Christiantaught me how to pause. Pausing
is so important. The stillnessof life can really help you
refocus your energy. Help yourefocus how you approach
everyone. Can help you, how youreact to someone. It's truly
remarkable. That's how Christianlived it. Christian never
(07:28):
stopped living nothing stopped.He got a full time job. We knew
what we were up against, butChristian wanted to serve a an
example to everyone. Now he didit for, I think, four months
before his body started to takea toll on him. He loved the idea
that we could venture into areasto try to solve this problem for
others, right? He was part ofhis journey. We always say, make
(07:48):
someone laugh, someone happy,make someone smile. Christian
was always about those threethings.
Gary Michels (07:53):
The main mission of the Christian Cochran Legacy
Fund, is it is it specific tothe underserved in this space,
or is it all different causes?Does it change? Is it a moving
target?
Chris Cochran (08:06):
I think it's a moving target. So we don't focus
on any one specific thing. It'sit. Sometimes it just comes to
us. A lot of the things that wedo come to us because they know
the story. They hear the storyof Christian so it happens if I
do podcasts or writing the book.Our mission is truly about
getting that language out what'sgood about today? I believe
(08:28):
that, out of every person, couldsimply wake up in the day, the
end of the day, and say, what'sgood about today, and really
take the time for yourself andthink that out and realize that
the sun's on my face. I'm ableto take a long walk, but can't
take a long walk. I interactedwith my son, my daughter, my
wife or a friend. There are somany things on their day that
(08:51):
are good, they far outweigh thebad. And so I think that's just
a mind shift. You know, theinteresting thing is, Christian
had he didn't have to do list.He had to love list. And he kept
those that's, that's how hemanaged his his life, and who
you love. I think that's a lotall the way of the the
foundation is set up too, iswe're not, they're not so much
(09:13):
to do's. They're all about toloves. And how do we put more
love out there to places andhelp?
Gary Michels (09:18):
Well, Attitude of Gratitude is so huge. How do you
use your gratitude foreverything you've learned? How
can others try to look at theglass of water half full?
Chris Cochran (09:28):
There's no simple answer to that. One, life is
difficult. It's hard. I do acouple things. Here's where I
found a useful tool for me whenI was going through those
difficult times, there's acouple things I came to accept.
One is, I can't control mycircumstances in life, right?
I'm not in control of that.People think they're in control.
(09:49):
They're really not that incontrol, right? So Christian's
passing and what he had to gothrough, and what we learned,
and for me, what I learned is Ican't control that, but I.
Practically, yes, gratitude isgreat. How do we put that in
practice? And so that's why, youknow, the book is, of course,
what's good about today, apurpose driven life. The book,
(10:10):
in the many ways, is a roadmapto how to lead a purposely
driven life. I'm still trying tolead that purposely driven life,
but I think once we live withacceptance, we strive for
optimism. Remain humble, even inthe face of despair. We are
lunging forward. We are actuallymoving to better ground. I think
(10:31):
when you check on others, younurture others, other human
connections, stay livingmindfully all the time. And I
think a big thing is, strive forempathy. You know, honor your
connections, show love, openyour heart. Christian knowledge
used to say to me, most of all,don't take life too seriously.
(10:52):
And so there's plenty of things,I think. The other thing
negative thoughts come into ourbrain all the time. I'm sure
they do for you too. And I, andI still have those things. I
have flashbacks to theseparticular moments, whether it
was at the end of Christian'slife, all kinds of different
things in between which he wassurrounded by his loved ones in
his house together. I karatechop those things. I karate chop
(11:14):
everything that comes into myhead that puts me in a place
that's negativity. That's thepoint of finding purpose too,
right? It's, it's we're allseeking to find purpose in this
life, right? Some of us haven'tfound it yet. We're, you know,
we're on that, that constantmarigold will of just trying to
make things happen and so. But Ithink pausing is important,
because pausing really allowsme, really, to meet life with
(11:37):
grace and see beyond pain andfind gratitude in the present.
That's space you can you cangenuinely find really, really
great things. I can get down,but I get back up really fast.
So, you know, I think it's, it'sa matter of pushing yourself
through these things andunderstanding, of course, to
(11:58):
have be grateful, of course, butpausing to understand in your
daily life.
Gary Michels (12:03):
For sure. And I just wanted to spend a little
time on that gratitude stuff,because that sounds like so much
where your head's at and whoChristian was. You know, our
show, everything's about legacy,and legacy is such an important
thing. What does legacy mean toyou?
Chris Cochran (12:19):
Legacy means love. It means the love you want
to continue to put out into theworld. So I hope you know that I
can continue to do what I'mdoing, so that I could leave a
legacy. I think leading byexample is is part of a legacy
fulfilled because I've switchedgears, right? I'm a corporate
(12:40):
CEO. I sit on the board for apublic company. I'm busy on that
side. But does it really bringme passion? What brings me the
most passion is to build buildlegacies, where it's filled with
love and the gratitude, right?And so I think creating random
acts of kindness, whether it'sto strangers, loved ones,
(13:02):
that's, I think, what legacy isall about.
Gary Michels (13:05):
The Pay It Forward, stuff, all those little
things that giving without evenneeding to be acknowledged for
giving. Right?
Chris Cochran (13:11):
Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, I think
that's the greatest form ofgiving, right? The greatest form
of giving is to give withoutasking for anything in return. A
lot of times. You know, when Ifirst got started in the Legacy
Fund and Christian Cocker LegacyFund and all this stuff, I was
just wanting to bring awareness.Now, this awareness has done
amazing things, right? I havepeople down in Tennessee. I had
(13:33):
people in Florida that heard thestory and said, Can you get me?
You know, we have wristbandsthat say, what's good about
today, we have stickers, thingslike that the way, I just get
them. And I want people to havethem, you know, I want them to
constantly be reminded of andthey go to festivals and they
set up stands on their own. I'mnot even a part of this. So
there's people who, who, who aredoing things with that message
(13:56):
on their own, which is great.I'm all for it. So to me, that's
all part of the legacy it'sabout and it's to build a
legacy. You got to connect thedots. You got to connect the
dots to other human beings.Because without connecting to
humans, you're not going to beable to to generate the
opportunities to talk to morepeople talk about the good
things you can do. So I thinklegacy, to me, is just that
(14:17):
spreading the message love. Loveis first and foremost, how do
you extend that love to so manyand share goodness, and how they
can share goodness as well?
Gary Michels (14:27):
What are some of your partners in the fund, and
how can listeners get involved?
Chris Cochran (14:32):
Sure, so I partner with Yasu, which is
young adults, survivors united.It's Yasu is, for short, the
fund is through the, like Isaid, Christian Cochran Legacy
Fund, through the Pittsburghfoundation, you can find all
kinds of you can probably GoogleChristian Cochran, and you'll
get all kinds of information onmy son. And there's Christian
(14:52):
cochrane.org which talks about,of course, Christian the Legacy
Fund, the foundation. It talksabout Christian and talks about
all the goodness that. We'redoing events that we're involved
in, where we sponsor, where wetry to get out and see the
community. So to me, we're stillin the grass. You know,
Christian just passed away threeyears ago, so it's still very
raw, in a way, you're still justtrying to get her name out there
(15:14):
to do the good works. Andcertainly, if your audience, if
there's anyone, thinks that thiswill be a good message,
certainly reach out to me, andyou can do that personally,
anytime, anytime.
Gary Michels (15:23):
So, a lot of this that we talked about today is
covered in in your new book.What's good about today, Purpose
Driven Life, inspired byChristain Cochran. Tell us a
little bit more about the book,and specifically about how you
came up with that title.
Chris Cochran (15:36):
The book was something that I started about a
year and a half ago, and when Isay started, it's sort of
putting my head together. I wasjust coming out of one year
being with Christians passing,and I'm a writer. I like to
write, not necessarily. I'm agreat writer, per se, but I
write a lot of journaling. I'm ajournaler. So I during the
course of Christians sickness,every day I sat and I journaled
(16:00):
and I wrote what I was feeling,good thoughts, bad thoughts. It
was a way for me to escape manytimes these were going on
between midnight and fouro'clock in the morning. I didn't
think I slept much during thatfirst year at all, and it was
just this whirlwind of trying,of course, to save Christian's
life, first and foremost,because I learned so much in
that process of RNAs and DNAsand sequencings and how to, you
(16:23):
know, figure out how we cansolve this, this terrible
cancer. It literally went backto about a year and a half ago,
taking those journals, compilingthem, reviewing them, which was
not a fun task for me, becauseit was bringing back everything
to life, how I felt during thosetimes. But I knew I had to do
it. I knew that it was importantto bring purpose to Christian's
passing. And then I decided totell a story. And there's people
(16:47):
have asked me. They said, What'syour book about? What's this all
about? Is it your son die in akiss? No, no, see, this is a
book of love. It is a lovestory. That's what this book is
about. Is about telling peoplethat, yes, it's you can be
resilient. One universal thingthat we all deal with is grief.
It's universal. We're all goingto experience it. We're all
going to be one day at thosethose moments in our life. But
(17:09):
it really is, how do younavigate life so that you know
you can, you can come out on theother side, and, you know,
leading this purposely drivenlife? So the book has just been
a cathartic process, andultimately, following the
guidelines of Christian. Ididn't write this book.
Christian is always the star. Healways was the star. I always
think of myself in thebackground, kind of just
(17:30):
painting a picture and lookingat things. And so I tell the
story that's inspired byChristian as how he solved the
world. I think that's how Ienvisioned writing the book.
That's how I wanted people tosee it, but I certainly wanted
them to come away with hope,gratitude and a lot of love.
Gary Michels (17:46):
I love it. I love it. If someone wants to get
involved in your organization,what would they do, and how
would they contact you?
Chris Cochran (17:53):
So they didn't get in contact with me two ways.
There's Christiancochran.org andthen there's
ChrisCochranspeaks.com that'sme, and you can find all my
information there. You can findthe book there. Certainly, if
anybody needs more information,they can get it there. For sure.
Gary Michels (18:09):
Awesome. Well, I really appreciate your time
today. What you're doing inmemory of your son and to help
others touches my heart.
Chris Cochran (18:16):
Thank you, Gary. Thank you to you and your staff.
You guys are amazing,privileged, and this is honestly
what's good about today. So I amvery blessed. I'm very thankful
for the opportunity to speak toyou. Really am.
Gary Michels (18:27):
All of you guys. I'll just leave it at this. Make
it a great day. What's goodabout today?
Welcome to Let's Talk Legacy. I'm your host, Gary
(00:02):
Michels, and today we're reallyexcited to have Christopher
Cochran on. Chris is an author,a speaker, and above all, a
father. As the founder of theChristian Cochran Legacy Fund,
he works to carry on his son'slegacy, promoting Christians,
humility, kindness, joy,gratitude, self, sacrifice,
selflessness, courage andunconditional love for all. And
(00:24):
I really believe we're gonnalearn a lot more about his son
and a lot more about Chris andnext little time we have here
together. And so welcome to theshow, Chris.
Chris Cochran (00:32):
Thank you, Gary, it's a pleasure to be here. Love
your show.
Gary Michels (00:34):
Thank you. So let's start right there. Tell us
a little bit about Christianwhat type of a man was he? What
was he like? What kind of effectdid he have on others around
him? Tell us a little bit aboutyour son.
Chris Cochran (00:46):
Wow. How much time do you have?
Listen,Christian was the mostamazing, remarkable. There's no
earthly terms and earthly wordsI can come up with to describe
Christian to the full extent.Right? He had deep love for his
fellow man and woman and allpeople, all cultures, all
religions, all everything. Inthe end, of course, he's my son.
(01:08):
I love him dearly. I tend tospeak to him as he is in the
presence. But Christian was anamazing individual, just from
the day he was born to themoment he took his last breath.
And I was with him at bothevents. Since he was a child, he
was so compassionate for others.It was an unusual trait. Even
before 13 months, he wasspeaking in full sentences,
(01:28):
which was pretty unusual. I knewthis kid was destined for
something special. He had thisincredible ability to see the
goodness in everything. Evenwhen he was little, he was a
very we called him Mr. Comforterall the time, because he could
comfort us. Even as adults, hecould make us feel good. He did
that for other children. Iremember the first day of school
getting on the bus. You know,kids clamor they want to get on
(01:50):
the bus, and we get the bestseat they want to be in,
whatever with their best friendChristian, was always making
sure he was the last person onthe bus, because he wanted
everyone to be happy, to havewhat they wanted on that bus.
And as a young adult, he wasincredibly talented, the prom
king in school, a big schoolhere in Pennsylvania, I'm in
Pittsburgh, he was the leadactor in every drama. He was in
(02:10):
every play and every musical.And he had been in a movie and a
Batman movie. He was kind of ontrack to do the things he wanted
he was going to head to, likegraduate from college, and he
felt a pain in his back. We hadjust come back from a vacation
out in Vegas, Christmas in 2020,and we had a beautiful time as a
family, and this pain just cameup and just thought it was
(02:32):
normally. I was a healthy,young, good looking boy.
Eventually the pain became so sobad that we had a blood test.
Told to go see a CT scan. Thiswas during covid, so I was asked
to go meet at the doctor'soffice. Six people came in white
coats. Their faces were coveredwith masks. I could only see
their eyes, but I knew at thatmoment, I kept reassuring
Christian as we arrived, it'sgoing to be okay. Things gonna
(02:54):
be fine. We'll be back to ourregular life. And they
immediately came in and said,Christian, you have a grapefruit
size tumor on your liver at thistime, we didn't know exactly
what it was at that moment, whatkind of cancer, bile duct
cancer, it's a less than 1%chance of of living. You're
lucky if you live six months. SoChristian was given a terminal
(03:14):
diagnosis. I remember asparents, we were heartbroken,
and we said we're so sorry,Christian that you have to deal
with this. He said, It's okay. Iwould never want this on anyone
else. I want this to be myburden. He said, I am so
grateful to you guys. He Henever complained one time.
Moment he got his diagnosis tothe day he took his last breath.
(03:35):
He never complained one time.All we cared about was everyone
else around him and how the leada good life for the remainder of
his life. That's why the titleof the book is, what's good
about today is because when wewould cry and we would say, you
know how horrible this was forus and him and the family, he
would say, No, what's good abouttoday? And it was his daily
(03:59):
reminder about all the good, allthe beauty you can find in a
day. Even in the worst ofcircumstances, when things are
not going your way, you can findnuggets of goodness and beauty
in every single day. So it was,you know, obviously a tough day,
a tough year, a tough every day,but through all that, that's
(04:21):
where we found the the strengthof Christian, you know, he, he
exemplified this incrediblestrength and goodness that to
me, yeah, I had to, that's why Ihad to tell the story, believe
it or not, the Foundation cameup prior to Christian's death,
because I knew he was going topass.
Gary Michels (04:36):
Was it Christian that came to you and said, Dad,
I want to start a foundation?
Chris Cochran (04:40):
So, yeah, Christian, prior to Christian's
passing, we had, you know, theseare conversations as a father,
you don't want to have with your22 year old son, but we would
talk, but Christian was veryconscious of it all, and would
say, you know, Dad, how are wegoing to take care of, you know,
those who are less fortunate?Christian was big into how to
help others, so he said, it'd begreat if we could, you. Know,
(05:00):
build something to help those inareas where there's poverty
areas things that Christiancared about his legacy, and it
was called the ChristianCochrane legacy fund through the
Pittsburgh Foundation, was builtbased on Christian's ideals of
where he wanted to help people.It was, you know, low income
areas, the kids who werestruggling in school. We get to
Animal Resources. We give toparks and natural resources.
(05:23):
There's all kinds of camps wegive to. It was Christian's
idea. Christian came to us withthat idea and said, you know,
this is what I'd like to do. Wedo a tremendous amount of work
in something called Yasu withyoung adult survivors united.
That's where a lot of the effortgoes in to help those young
adults who are stricken withcancer. It's an underserved
area, but those young adults whoare really just they came out of
(05:46):
their their shell, they're readyto take on the world, none of
the sudden, they get hit withthis. And what I found is that
those individuals have lessresources, right? They're no
longer attached to theirparents, they're on their own.
They don't have the moneyChristian would give to
everybody. So, you know, wewould, we only have so many
resources that we can give tobut you know, we're also
implementing what's good abouttoday in lesson plans, which I
(06:08):
think, to me, is extraordinaryin terms of the Legacy Fund. And
what we're trying to do is tohelp spread how kids can come in
in the morning. You know, what'sgood about today? They write
down what's good about theirtoday. At the end of the day,
they erase that next day, theystart over. But it allows
teachers to identify those kidswho are having problems in their
day and those who are doing youknow really well. But it also
(06:30):
gives kids an idea of what youknow look there is lots of
bright things in the day.
Gary Michels (06:35):
What did you learn from from the time you do that
diagnosis he was able to livewhat? What did you learn from
that, that you could share withothers?
Chris Cochran (06:43):
I learned mostly that it's about giving all of
yourself to others, right? I Ialways say there's kind of this
pre cancer Chris, and there'skind of after cancer. Chris, I
don't even identify with the guypre cancer. My mind was in a
different mindset. It was allgold related to achieve. Keep up
with the Joneses, all thosecrazy, wacky things in this
(07:06):
world we have to deal with. ButI think what it taught me is to
reflect. It taught me. Christiantaught me how to pause. Pausing
is so important. The stillnessof life can really help you
refocus your energy. Help yourefocus how you approach
everyone. Can help you, how youreact to someone. It's truly
remarkable. That's how Christianlived it. Christian never
(07:28):
stopped living nothing stopped.He got a full time job. We knew
what we were up against, butChristian wanted to serve a an
example to everyone. Now he didit for, I think, four months
before his body started to takea toll on him. He loved the idea
that we could venture into areasto try to solve this problem for
others, right? He was part ofhis journey. We always say, make
(07:48):
someone laugh, someone happy,make someone smile. Christian
was always about those threethings.
Gary Michels (07:53):
The main mission of the Christian Cochran Legacy
Fund, is it is it specific tothe underserved in this space,
or is it all different causes?Does it change? Is it a moving
target?
Chris Cochran (08:06):
I think it's a moving target. So we don't focus
on any one specific thing. It'sit. Sometimes it just comes to
us. A lot of the things that wedo come to us because they know
the story. They hear the storyof Christian so it happens if I
do podcasts or writing the book.Our mission is truly about
getting that language out what'sgood about today? I believe
(08:28):
that, out of every person, couldsimply wake up in the day, the
end of the day, and say, what'sgood about today, and really
take the time for yourself andthink that out and realize that
the sun's on my face. I'm ableto take a long walk, but can't
take a long walk. I interactedwith my son, my daughter, my
wife or a friend. There are somany things on their day that
(08:51):
are good, they far outweigh thebad. And so I think that's just
a mind shift. You know, theinteresting thing is, Christian
had he didn't have to do list.He had to love list. And he kept
those that's, that's how hemanaged his his life, and who
you love. I think that's a lotall the way of the the
foundation is set up too, iswe're not, they're not so much
(09:13):
to do's. They're all about toloves. And how do we put more
love out there to places andhelp?
Gary Michels (09:18):
Well, Attitude of Gratitude is so huge. How do you
use your gratitude foreverything you've learned? How
can others try to look at theglass of water half full?
Chris Cochran (09:28):
There's no simple answer to that. One, life is
difficult. It's hard. I do acouple things. Here's where I
found a useful tool for me whenI was going through those
difficult times, there's acouple things I came to accept.
One is, I can't control mycircumstances in life, right?
I'm not in control of that.People think they're in control.
(09:49):
They're really not that incontrol, right? So Christian's
passing and what he had to gothrough, and what we learned,
and for me, what I learned is Ican't control that, but I.
Practically, yes, gratitude isgreat. How do we put that in
practice? And so that's why, youknow, the book is, of course,
what's good about today, apurpose driven life. The book,
(10:10):
in the many ways, is a roadmapto how to lead a purposely
driven life. I'm still trying tolead that purposely driven life,
but I think once we live withacceptance, we strive for
optimism. Remain humble, even inthe face of despair. We are
lunging forward. We are actuallymoving to better ground. I think
(10:31):
when you check on others, younurture others, other human
connections, stay livingmindfully all the time. And I
think a big thing is, strive forempathy. You know, honor your
connections, show love, openyour heart. Christian knowledge
used to say to me, most of all,don't take life too seriously.
(10:52):
And so there's plenty of things,I think. The other thing
negative thoughts come into ourbrain all the time. I'm sure
they do for you too. And I, andI still have those things. I
have flashbacks to theseparticular moments, whether it
was at the end of Christian'slife, all kinds of different
things in between which he wassurrounded by his loved ones in
his house together. I karatechop those things. I karate chop
(11:14):
everything that comes into myhead that puts me in a place
that's negativity. That's thepoint of finding purpose too,
right? It's, it's we're allseeking to find purpose in this
life, right? Some of us haven'tfound it yet. We're, you know,
we're on that, that constantmarigold will of just trying to
make things happen and so. But Ithink pausing is important,
because pausing really allowsme, really, to meet life with
(11:37):
grace and see beyond pain andfind gratitude in the present.
That's space you can you cangenuinely find really, really
great things. I can get down,but I get back up really fast.
So, you know, I think it's, it'sa matter of pushing yourself
through these things andunderstanding, of course, to
(11:58):
have be grateful, of course, butpausing to understand in your
daily life.
Gary Michels (12:03):
For sure. And I just wanted to spend a little
time on that gratitude stuff,because that sounds like so much
where your head's at and whoChristian was. You know, our
show, everything's about legacy,and legacy is such an important
thing. What does legacy mean toyou?
Chris Cochran (12:19):
Legacy means love. It means the love you want
to continue to put out into theworld. So I hope you know that I
can continue to do what I'mdoing, so that I could leave a
legacy. I think leading byexample is is part of a legacy
fulfilled because I've switchedgears, right? I'm a corporate
(12:40):
CEO. I sit on the board for apublic company. I'm busy on that
side. But does it really bringme passion? What brings me the
most passion is to build buildlegacies, where it's filled with
love and the gratitude, right?And so I think creating random
acts of kindness, whether it'sto strangers, loved ones,
(13:02):
that's, I think, what legacy isall about.
Gary Michels (13:05):
The Pay It Forward, stuff, all those little
things that giving without evenneeding to be acknowledged for
giving. Right?
Chris Cochran (13:11):
Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, I think
that's the greatest form ofgiving, right? The greatest form
of giving is to give withoutasking for anything in return. A
lot of times. You know, when Ifirst got started in the Legacy
Fund and Christian Cocker LegacyFund and all this stuff, I was
just wanting to bring awareness.Now, this awareness has done
amazing things, right? I havepeople down in Tennessee. I had
(13:33):
people in Florida that heard thestory and said, Can you get me?
You know, we have wristbandsthat say, what's good about
today, we have stickers, thingslike that the way, I just get
them. And I want people to havethem, you know, I want them to
constantly be reminded of andthey go to festivals and they
set up stands on their own. I'mnot even a part of this. So
there's people who, who, who aredoing things with that message
(13:56):
on their own, which is great.I'm all for it. So to me, that's
all part of the legacy it'sabout and it's to build a
legacy. You got to connect thedots. You got to connect the
dots to other human beings.Because without connecting to
humans, you're not going to beable to to generate the
opportunities to talk to morepeople talk about the good
things you can do. So I thinklegacy, to me, is just that
(14:17):
spreading the message love. Loveis first and foremost, how do
you extend that love to so manyand share goodness, and how they
can share goodness as well?
Gary Michels (14:27):
What are some of your partners in the fund, and
how can listeners get involved?
Chris Cochran (14:32):
Sure, so I partner with Yasu, which is
young adults, survivors united.It's Yasu is, for short, the
fund is through the, like Isaid, Christian Cochran Legacy
Fund, through the Pittsburghfoundation, you can find all
kinds of you can probably GoogleChristian Cochran, and you'll
get all kinds of information onmy son. And there's Christian
(14:52):
cochrane.org which talks about,of course, Christian the Legacy
Fund, the foundation. It talksabout Christian and talks about
all the goodness that. We'redoing events that we're involved
in, where we sponsor, where wetry to get out and see the
community. So to me, we're stillin the grass. You know,
Christian just passed away threeyears ago, so it's still very
raw, in a way, you're still justtrying to get her name out there
(15:14):
to do the good works. Andcertainly, if your audience, if
there's anyone, thinks that thiswill be a good message,
certainly reach out to me, andyou can do that personally,
anytime, anytime.
Gary Michels (15:23):
So, a lot of this that we talked about today is
covered in in your new book.What's good about today, Purpose
Driven Life, inspired byChristain Cochran. Tell us a
little bit more about the book,and specifically about how you
came up with that title.
Chris Cochran (15:36):
The book was something that I started about a
year and a half ago, and when Isay started, it's sort of
putting my head together. I wasjust coming out of one year
being with Christians passing,and I'm a writer. I like to
write, not necessarily. I'm agreat writer, per se, but I
write a lot of journaling. I'm ajournaler. So I during the
course of Christians sickness,every day I sat and I journaled
(16:00):
and I wrote what I was feeling,good thoughts, bad thoughts. It
was a way for me to escape manytimes these were going on
between midnight and fouro'clock in the morning. I didn't
think I slept much during thatfirst year at all, and it was
just this whirlwind of trying,of course, to save Christian's
life, first and foremost,because I learned so much in
that process of RNAs and DNAsand sequencings and how to, you
(16:23):
know, figure out how we cansolve this, this terrible
cancer. It literally went backto about a year and a half ago,
taking those journals, compilingthem, reviewing them, which was
not a fun task for me, becauseit was bringing back everything
to life, how I felt during thosetimes. But I knew I had to do
it. I knew that it was importantto bring purpose to Christian's
passing. And then I decided totell a story. And there's people
(16:47):
have asked me. They said, What'syour book about? What's this all
about? Is it your son die in akiss? No, no, see, this is a
book of love. It is a lovestory. That's what this book is
about. Is about telling peoplethat, yes, it's you can be
resilient. One universal thingthat we all deal with is grief.
It's universal. We're all goingto experience it. We're all
going to be one day at thosethose moments in our life. But
(17:09):
it really is, how do younavigate life so that you know
you can, you can come out on theother side, and, you know,
leading this purposely drivenlife? So the book has just been
a cathartic process, andultimately, following the
guidelines of Christian. Ididn't write this book.
Christian is always the star. Healways was the star. I always
think of myself in thebackground, kind of just
(17:30):
painting a picture and lookingat things. And so I tell the
story that's inspired byChristian as how he solved the
world. I think that's how Ienvisioned writing the book.
That's how I wanted people tosee it, but I certainly wanted
them to come away with hope,gratitude and a lot of love.
Gary Michels (17:46):
I love it. I love it. If someone wants to get
involved in your organization,what would they do, and how
would they contact you?
Chris Cochran (17:53):
So they didn't get in contact with me two ways.
There's Christiancochran.org andthen there's
ChrisCochranspeaks.com that'sme, and you can find all my
information there. You can findthe book there. Certainly, if
anybody needs more information,they can get it there. For sure.
Gary Michels (18:09):
Awesome. Well, I really appreciate your time
today. What you're doing inmemory of your son and to help
others touches my heart.
Chris Cochran (18:16):
Thank you, Gary. Thank you to you and your staff.
You guys are amazing,privileged, and this is honestly
what's good about today. So I amvery blessed. I'm very thankful
for the opportunity to speak toyou. Really am.
Gary Michels (18:27):
All of you guys. I'll just leave it at this. Make
it a great day. What's goodabout today?
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