cover story
Time has not changed
the hole that was left
in my heart and my
life and I have learned
to pour memories into
the hole and let them
flow through the empty
space. Now, instead of
a hole, I have a conduit
to him.
In getting to know John Mosko, it isn’t hard
to see where Chris got his personality. John
is quick-witted, smart, and resilient. John
originally received a degree and practiced
in the field of chemical engineering, but
moved on to a path better suited to his
interest and skills. John has focused on
product management and marketing, which
has taken him all around the world. Despite
the demands of the corporate world and his
goals and ambitions, has always made time
for family, faith, and community.
John, his wife, Gayle, and their two
children, Chris and Meredith, made a
number of moves over the years (Gayle
reminds us that they have lived in nine
homes over the course of their lives
together), having to change schools, friends,
and routines, but some might say that it also
strengthened their bond as a family unit.
In each new home, they always had each
other, and they all share the same wonderful
warmth and positive attitude that they direct
at the world around them.
After Chris passed, John struggled with
“days of progress and moments of regress,”
he says. While people grasp how this is
a loss no parent is prepared to endure,
he reminds us that the loss has had an
impact on so many others – particularly his
daughter, Chris’ sister, Meredith. Her loss
is unique as she lost a friend and a mentor.
She lost the man who she knew would
be great uncle to her son, Christopher,
who is now 10 months old. As an Army
wife living overseas in Italy, she is still tied
to the military community and the unique
challenges it creates.
On the first anniversary of his son’s death,
John wrote, “Time has not changed the hole
that was left in my heart and my life and I
have learned to pour memories into the hole
and let them flow through the empty space.
Now, instead of a hole, I have a conduit
to him.” And just as he mentioned days of
progress and moments of regress, it was
a roller coaster of emotion for the first two
years after his passing.
On the first Father’s Day following Chris’s
passing, John wrote about the phrase,
“Hope for the best,
but plan for the
worst.” How he’d
only planned for
the best – enjoying
life’s most precious
moments with his
son as time went
on. Diving trips, or
Meredith’s wedding,
simple Father’s Day
phone conversations
or dinners. But those
were not to be. The
following Memorial
Day, John realized
how different a
meaning the day would take for he and his
family. For many Americans, it is the start of
summer, a reminder of warm weather, family
gatherings, and delicious cookouts. And
while it is a day to honor those who have
fallen, for John, it became a reminder of all
those still in harm’s way.
The feeling that it was no longer enough
to remember the fallen, but to begin thinking
about the living was enough to motivate
John to start taking action. Finally, August
29th, 2014, more than
two years after that
fateful day, that John
began to take some
action to honor both
the living and the
fallen, but he didn’t
know that this action
might also lead him on
a path to repairing his
broken heart.
John has been
doing triathlons since
the early 1980s, so
fitness challenges
seemed like a
reasonable place to
start. John and Chris had always enjoyed
sports and athletic challenges together.
Almost on a whim, John decided he would
take ride on his bike to honor Chris – from
Avondale to Bethany Beach – in August –
The feeling that
it was no longer
enough to remember
the fallen, but to
begin thinking about
the living was enough
to motivate John to
start taking action.
enhance magazine | NOVEMBER 2017
33