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Memphis teen’s words haunt family days after death

Memphis teen’s words haunt family days after death

Posted: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 9:09 pm
By: AP

 

By CINDY WOLFF The Commercial Appeal MEMPHIS (AP) — A few weeks ago, something nudged Jonathan Cooper to type eight paragraphs to sum up 16 years. “Jonathan’s Life Story.” No one knows why. His dad suspects Jonathan knew 16 years was all he’d get. The Craigmont High School junior died Sept. 1 when his red Kawasaki ZZR600 motorcycle collided with a Dodge Ram truck that pulled out in front of him. Richard Ronacher, 64, the driver of the truck, was cited with possession of an open alcohol container and reckless driving. The results of a blood test are pending. John and Thomasa Cooper drove to the scene, less than a mile from home. They stood outside the police tape, begged officers to tell them which hospital had their son. Someone finally showed mercy and told them. He didn’t make it. ——— “Hello my name is Jonathan. The beginning of my life is kind of blurry but I am going to try to tell you about my childhood.” He was born March 16 to a family who lived in North Memphis. John 3:16, his father points out. He was a thick baby, his mother said, a chunk to carry around. The second child, he was five years younger than his sister, Brittiny. Pictures of Jonathan and his sister line the shelves and walls of the Coopers’ home. Baby Jon smiling with no teeth, sitting up on his own. A family portrait when he was a teenager. His parents taught him how to be a man, to care for others, to always do your best, appreciate your blessings. There’s a picture in the photo album of a smiling 3-year-old boy driving his mini-monster truck, one of the memories in his life story. “By then my parents moved me out of the hood because they said they didn’t want anything to happen to me.” He tacked up silly and serious birthday cards near his bed. He liked scary movies and video games. He wore a cologne oil that drove the girls crazy. “As I got older I started to get shy. Up to this day I’m still shy. I remember I had the worst crush on this teacher in elementary named Ms. Dickinson.” He teased his sister a lot, poked her with his finger, came into her room. He liked to draw, won a contest that promoted milk. By fifth grade, he had abandoned his crush on the older woman and focused on a girl named Brittiny. He spelled the girl’s name like his sister’s. “Every time she walked by I would just stare and smile at her and she would do the same. I think she liked me too but I was too shy to talk to her so I really didn’t get a chance with her.” Jonathan received his first motorcycle when he turned 15, a yellow Kawasaki Ninja. He loved the power underneath his body, the wind and freedom as he rounded a curve. His parents bought him a larger bike for his birthday. His family joined him in his passion for motorcycles, took safety courses. They joined the Peaceriders Motorcycle Ministry that visited shut-ins and participated in other outreach missions. All the while his father cast him mental lifelines to cling to as he maneuvered through teenage years when bad choices could tear your life apart. John to his son: “How do you define a man’s character?” Jonathan: “By doing what’s right even when nobody’s looking.” His parents took his cell phone when his room wasn’t clean, grounded him if he didn’t obey. He didn’t join a lot of clubs at school, didn’t have any cliques. All the kids liked him, even gang members. Some tried to recruit him. They picked at him for being good. They talked colors and drugs. He talked God. “Jonathan wanted them to be saved, to know the power of God,” John said. “He was friends with everybody. He wouldn’t join them, but he didn’t aggravate them either.” By 16, he was 6 feet tall like his father, hazel-green eyes, perfect grin from naturally straight teeth. He and his father squabbled over socks and T-shirts. They also hugged every time they said goodbye. The final paragraph finds Jonathan struggling with issues he doesn’t describe. “I really didn’t have a great summer nor a good summer but I made it through.” “If you hurt, he hurt,” said John. “He had the ability to bring people out of down times. If you were hurting, he was going to talk to you.” Jonathan always tried to talk kids into getting out of gangs, to turn their lives around. Some days he didn’t think his words did any good. Two days after he died, a teenager stopped by the Cooper home. He was leaving the gang because of Jonathan. He handed John a blue bandana. ——— Information from: The Commercial Appeal, http://www.commercialappeal.com Published in The Messenger 9.17.08