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September 18 • 2014
m
David Gordon from page 70
way out of the darkest of holes. By his
final months, he had achieved a sense
of inner peace. And his military ser-
vice only served to reinforce his hard-
fought appreciation for the everyday
pleasures of life.
He was happy. You could feel it in
his words.
"Unbelievably overwhelmed, not
from this mission but from the sup-
port and messages of encouragement
from family, friends and strangers:'
wrote David in his final Facebook
post. "I am OK, and I've never felt
more loved. Thank you all!"
Even from the front lines in Gaza,
his unbridled hope and love of life
shone through. This was not the voice
of a man on the brink of giving up.
This was the voice of a man who had
learned to embrace life with all of
its challenges and rewards, from the
pangs of silent suffering to simple joys
like a crisp green apple and taking off
his boots after a long patrol. David had
learned to live more fully and more
meaningfully than the rest of us.
Yes, he carried much pain. But he
also harbored much joy.
He was a survivor in every sense of
the word. He clung stubbornly to life
when others might have fallen into the
abyss. It's almost impossible to think
he would have succumbed now, after
all the progress he made. He loved life
too much to let go.
And having survived his own peril-
ous journey, he wanted to do every-
thing he could to help other survivors
get their lives back. He devoted his
own life to the cause. But he never
wanted to be a martyr. He wanted to
lead by living.
David's Bucket List
'Fitting women for 67 years"
ME^In—W—T.
world
In one of David's notebooks, we found
a bucket list scribbled in his distinc-
tive handwriting. It took up nearly
an entire page. He filled it with grand
adventures and grander intentions,
from skydiving to traveling the world
to changing the world. There was so
much he wanted to experience and
accomplish before he died. But near
the bottom of the list, one item in par-
ticular caught our eye:
"Say goodbye to EVERYONE:'
Knowing David, he would have
wanted a final moment with each and
every one of us. One last chance to
share a laugh, impart words of encour-
agement and strengthen us with a
hug before bidding farewell. Being the
writer that he was, he surely would
have left a note. But none of that hap-
pened. None of us got a chance to say
goodbye.
I find it hard to believe that was by
choice.
I could be wrong. I don't presume
Gordon with brother-in-law Aryeh
Ho at his wedding.
to know what horrors he witnessed in
Gaza and what went through his mind
in his final days and hours.
Then again, neither should anyone
else.
It could come out tomorrow that
David's death has been confirmed as
a suicide. If that's the case, none of us
would run away from it. We would
accept it, own it and grow from it. But
until we know for sure, let's keep the
focus on what we do know.
We know that David touched an
untold number of lives, reflected in
the incredible outpouring of people
from all over the world who attended
his levaya [funeral] and came to pay
their respects to the family during the
shivah.
We know that he literally saved
lives, both on the battlefield and in the
blogosphere, as told through countless
stories and personal anecdotes shared
by familiar faces and strangers alike.
We know that his brave stand
against the perpetrators and enablers
of sexual abuse has galvanized other
survivors to break down the walls of
denial and fear, shining a searing light
on one of the darkest corners of our
community.
We know that even those who per-
sist in the suicide narrative have cho-
sen to focus on the courage and effec-
tiveness of his advocacy, according his
life's mission the respect it deserves.
We know that the legacy of his life
far outweighs the uncertainty of his
death, and no amount of speculation
can dim our collective awe at what he
achieved in his 21 years.
We know that David lives on, in the
words he spoke and wrote, and in the
lives he so indelibly touched.
And we know that everything I've
written here, David would have said it
better.
❑
This story originally appeared on Aish.
corn. The JN ran a story on Gordon's life,
writings and his allegations of child abuse
in Detroit's Jewish community on Aug. 28.