Remembering Charlie

 In Loving Memory

Charlie Kirk

10/14/93 - 9/10/25

This afternoon, I while working from home on a very slow day, I came across a post from a news outlet that said Charlie Kirk was shot. I felt my world shake. I shared it with my brother and my aunt. A few minutes later, my aunt sent me a text that said he had died. I was on a call with a customer and completely lost my concentration as I felt myself starting to cry. I never knew the man. But I really wanted to meet him someday and thank him for his trademark brutal honesty.

I first heard Charlie speak at a Turning Point USA event on YouTube. I don't have cable, because it's a ripoff, so I watch a lot of YouTube. I remember seeing a few videos of debates and speeches. The first thing I noticed was his brutal honesty, as I mentioned before. The second thing I noticed were the facts. Undisputable facts on every topic, delivered with love, not hate. And the third thing I noticed was that he made absolutely no apology for the truth nor his views, and he was a dealer of truth.

Charlie's M/O was debate. He wanted to debate the facts, not argue over someone's feelings. He would talk to anyone who would have a conversation with him. Even in the face of expletive screaming blue-haired leftists, with metal in their face, who wanted to insult, censor, cancel or even kill him for his beliefs, he kept his cool. And he always smiled. He had a great smile. And he welcomed everyone's opinion, even those filled with spite, hatred, and dishonesty.

I found Charlie in 2015 when I started to wake up and notice the insanity that was going on in our country. I was extremely impressed with him. I watched his videos from time to time. In 2020 I started to really notice something wrong with our country, with the world even. Common sense was dying, and what was taking over was an outrage. It was like our society was running backwards. Identity politics was the rule of the land. Hate was brewing Brewing in those who claim to stand against it the most. Charlie taught me that it's OK to disagree with someone; that truth IS objective, that morality is objective, and that God is loving and forgiving, but there are still rules you have to follow. 

I was raised in a conservative Christian home. When I was 18, I registered Republican, but immediately threw my vote in the trash for Bill Clinton because MTV told me to. I was young, naive, impressionable. Later I voted Republican. In school and College I was very liberal - an uninformed voter, Charlie would say. My feelings changed on topics often, knowing very little about them. Charlie taught me that it's OK to think critically, that it is not a form of racism, nor bigotry: truth is one thing, feelings are another. He taught me never to rely on a feeling, always search for the facts. Charlie helped me sort out the details on so many topics: LGBTQ, BLM, feminism, economics, communism/socialism, and many more. I truly believe he was helping our county, our world, become a better place; to remove the wedge the politicians had worked so hard to drive between us.

Charlie was a husband to Erika and a father to two small children who will now grow up without him. He was a devout Christian and often talked about the merits of faith. I was hoping we'd have him around for years to come, but it seems Jesus needed him more than we did. 

Rest in peace, good and faithful servant, beacon of light.

Scott Gale Loney

 In Loving Memory

Scott Gale Loney was born April 20th, 1964 to Sharon Gainer, and Charles Loney. Brother to Chuck Loney, and best friend and neighbor to me. He passed away in peace, on May 11th, 2025, not even a month after his 61st birthday. He lived in Smallwood Apartments in Hillsboro. 

I think we moved in about the same time, around 11 years ago, he may have been here before me. He lived upstairs from me, next to another mutual friend, Dan. I wasn't close to the tenant next-door before him, his disability made it difficult to get close to him. And Scott moved in because he wanted a first floor unit.

Immediately we were friends. And then Dan passed away unexpectedly. Both of us grieved for Dan, he was a good friend. Scott and I soon became best of friends. I work mostly from home, so I started knocking on his door on my breaks sometimes, hanging out after work, or he'd come over to my place. I am an avid movie fan and I'm really into smart home tech and vintage poster design. Scott loved what I had done with my apartment, and it turned out that he was into the same things. He liked watching movies with me, and he had a lot of vintage stuff at his place too. Old movie posters, vintage Coca-Cola signage, Marilyn Monroe pictures and a shelf full of nostalgia from the last 60 years or so. He loved the smart home tech I had, especially the lights, and for Christmas last year, I gave him a set of lights for his TV. He absolutely loved them! A little skittish at first on how to control them, but I set it up on his phone and taught him how to control them. 

What set Scott apart was what a loyal friend he was, even from the beginning. Scott was the kind of approachable person you wanted as a neighbor, and an easy person to be friends with. He was a friend of most of the people who lived in our complex. Always giving of himself, if someone needed something. On the flipside, he hated asking people, or depending on people, for help with stuff. For me that was never an issue. I learned long ago, when I was a kid, how to be a good neighbor, how to foster that relationship into a strong friendship, from my mother. She spent most of her life battling one major illness after the other and hated asking for help. But our neighbor Patti, was always there for her, like a sister. That is how I'd like to remember Scott, as a brother, not just a friend or neighbor.

Scott was easy to get along with. We would watch movies every night, and/or TV shows. Neither one of us had cable, but I would get movies online almost daily, and TV shows. Mostly older stuff, like within the last 20-30 years, but a lot of the new stuff too. Some of the craziest stuff. A lot of times, I'd get a movie for us to watch just to make fun of it. It was great. Plus I had Netflix and other services too. He relied on me to help him set things up. I set up his TVs, his phone, his lights and Bluetooth devices for him. 

I think the hardest thing for me, and those who loved him, will be not seeing him around. For me, not having my movie buddy around. He was a wonderful son to Sharon, and brother to Chuck. He stayed in touch with them very closely. His last year was the most challenging for him with his medical conditions. He was in a lot of pain and even more so frustration, but I know he is in a better place now, and no longer in pain. Scott will be missed, but never forgotten.

Romans 12:10 - "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor." 

Faith Like a Child

"Dear God, surround me as I speak..."

 I've been a blogger now for over eight years. I've written many articles that have touched many lives, provided entertainment, and encouragement. What I'm about to write will hopefully be the most profound thing I'll ever write.

IN THE BEGINNING

I went to a Baptist church when I was a kid. I was baptized when I was 11. At my baptism, I was asked to give my testimony. I regaled a time when I was three years old, my mother taught me how to get into Heaven. She said, "all you need to do is ask Jesus to come into your heart." Three years old. How could I have understood what all that meant? Faith like a child.

It wasn't until many years later that I really became a Christian. I said the prayer many times; confessed my sins many times; asked for forgiveness about a million times, but it wasn't until I was 41 that I learned to surrender, and truly have faith like a child.

I had the benefit of being born into a good Christian home. Not everybody has that chance. But like most children I learned to mute it out after a while. I saw so much good and so much bad at my church. Eventually the bad consumed the good and left me with a lot of bad and uncomfortable feelings.

I've had a hard time with churches my entire life. Youth groups were always hard because of my social anxiety and general awkwardness, but moreover, they were composed mostly of the same kids that picked on me and made fun of me at school. I was always the outcast. In the winter of 1989, my freshman year in high school, our church took a ski trip. My mother insisted I go, in fact, most of my Christmas presents that year were for skiing. I had, not even one friend on that trip. On the ride up, I sat next to the pastor who told me I was talking to him too much and asked me to stop talking. On the slopes, I was all by myself, never having skied before. There were a few seniors that were teaching us to ski.

THE BIG MOVE

When we moved to Oregon, there were surprisingly no bullies. We went to a different church every week, searching for the right fit. Eventually I just got so sick of it, I stopped going altogether, for multiple reasons. I've never really started going like we did when I was a kid again.

My senior year of high school, I started developing depression and PTSD from all the bullies back home in California. I started therapy and treatment. That summer after my senior year was the worst summer ever. I had so much anger in me that it prevented me from enjoying myself, enjoying my life. In 2000 I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder II. The definition is confusing, but basically, to me, that means you are more prone to depression vs. manic episodes. Such pain. My life spun out of control; going down, down, down to the eventual bottom. I applied for social security twice, and was denied twice.

FAILING FORWARD

I went from job, to job, to job. I'd start, then I'd get fired, sometimes for reasons not even disclosed to me. And I lived all over the place:  with my parents until I was 23, then I got my own apartment. It was the first time I had ever lived my myself, outside of the brief time I did when I was in college.  At 24 I was on a bit of an upswing, so I upgraded my apartment, but then fell flat on my face and had to move back in with my parents. I lived with my brother for a while, before moving back in with my parents. I got another apartment for just under a year, and then moved back in with my parents again. I did not get along with my parents while living with them. There was so much animosity, we were butting heads all the time.

Then one day my counselor reached out to me and said "I think I might have found housing for you." It was a tiny one-bedroom apartment with no amenities. I turned it down at first, but then reconsidered given my options. I moved in and immediately felt free. It was my place and everything in it was mine! The apartment was subsidized by HUD and the rent at the beginning was $3.00. This was based on my income at the time which was $0.00. I was so grateful to get this place. Unfortunately, the problem with jobs persisted. I think I counted about 25-50 jobs in a ten year period.

Then came April of 2015. I was without a job, behind on my bills, and couldn't ask my parents for money, again. I said a prayer, and then I said "I just can't do this anymore. I'm done. I've got nothing left." Well, I found a job. I hated it at first but then I got really good at it and it later led to the job I have now which is the best job I've ever had. All because I surrendered. I gave it to God. And in my mind I was calculating the odds, adding up all the complications and I said to myself "God will come through." I cleared my mind and I felt like Luke Skywalker did after he fired his shot into the Death Star. Confident. I was counting on God not letting me down.

A NEW POWER

These days, superheroes are popular. It seems every blockbuster Hollywood produces came from the pages of Marvel or DC Comics. That day in April of 2015 was when I was endowed with my "superpower." No I cannot leap tall buildings in a single bound, fly or run faster than a locomotive. Instead, I now have this sixth sense. When faced with an ominous problem, I feel something, like a voice telling me God will take care of me, that things will work out. He sets my mind and my heart at ease. I can remember each time it happens.

My job is very stressful, taking care of peoples' mortgages during a pandemic; taking care of their homes. Recently management has been talking about adding a new metric in order to make a bonus. To date, I've never hit this metric. I started to panic when I first heard this was going to be expected of me to make my bonus. Later I was able to stop obsessing about it. Then, I felt God tell me everything will be OK as long as I don't worry. In my mind, in only a second, I analyzed the situation and realized that it would be wholly illogical for God to take away my apartment and my livelihood, given it was all from Him. And that's what this whole testimony is about:  faith like a child. "God feeds the birds every day who seem so insignificant in this world. He will take care of you. You just have to trust him," - something my brother wrote me based on Matthew 6:25. There is only one word I can think of that best describes this phenomenon:  hope.

I am in no way perfect in my life or in my faith. I panicked like an unbeliever when I heard they were considering adding this new metric (which hasn't even been officially added yet). But God comforted me, made me feel better. I wrote this article because I feel like I've never really shared my testimony outside of my baptism. I also wanted to communicate the idea that a testimony can change. It can get better, more detailed, and touch more lives. That's not to say if your testimony does not have a lot of details, it's invalid. But I believe in conviction, evidence and proof, and that's what comes with you give up your life to Jesus Christ.