"I Would Have Liked Charlie to Have Those Years." (The Patrick Madrid Show)

Image via Maxim Elramsisy / Shutterstock. On The Patrick Madrid Show, Patrick opens up about the heartbreaking assassination of Charlie Kirk and the deep sense of loss felt by his family, friends, and so many Americans who admired his courage. He shares his own meditation – borrowing the style of a reflection once written by an Italian actor about his own unborn son – laying out what he “would have liked” Charlie to experience if his life hadn’t been cut short. I Would Have Liked Charlie to Have Those Years by Patrick Madrid Charlie Kirk should have had decades still ahead of him. He should have been given the time to keep sharpening his voice, to build up the next generation with truth, and to keep defending the values he believed in. Instead, his life was cut short by an assassin’s bullet. And so, I find myself saying and praying what I would have liked.I would have liked to hear Charlie grow even stronger in convincing people of the truth. I would have liked his powerful intellectual and rhetorical gifts to have matured into something even stronger than what we had already seen. He was only beginning to reach his stride as a commentator and cultural leader, and I would have liked to see how far he could have gone in the service of the truth.I would have liked him to be steady at his wife and family’s side through every storm. He was a young man, with small children at home and so much more to live for.  I would have liked him to live to see those children grow tall, to walk with them into adulthood, and to bless them on their wedding days.I would have liked him and his wife Erika to grow old together, to enjoy the sweetness of a long and happy marriage.  I would have liked him to live long enough to hold more children in his arms, if God had granted them, and then to see grandchildren playing at his feet. The beauty of a life fully lived, one that was stolen from him, and from them. And from us. I would have liked Charlie Kirk to keep writing, keep speaking, keep encouraging and building the courage of the young men and women and so many others who listened to him and looked up to him.  I would have liked him to grow old with a seasoned strength, gray in his hair, and the wisdom that comes from long experience. A blessing from God. I would have liked him to keep walking beside this hurting, polarized, uncertain and faltering country, reminding us that conviction matters more than applauseand that the truth is always more powerful than lies.  I would have liked to watch him carry that conviction across the decades, becoming not only a voice of youthful fire but of seasoned wisdom for the ages.And above all, I would have liked Charlie to have lived long enough to see his family grow in peace – to grow old with the woman he loved, to rejoice in his children’s lives, and to one day welcome his grandchildren. That is what he was robbed of. That is what his wife and children were robbed of. And that is what all of us, who valued his presence in the public square, were robbed of yesterday. Charlie Kirk had so much more to give. Only God knows how much more. He should have been allowed to see those years through. Instead, his voice was silenced suddenly, and we are left with the ache of what might have been and the memory of who he was and why he did what he did to help others.I would have liked him to live out the story God had written for him. I would have liked us all to have been given those years with him among us, years that were stolen, when Charlie still had so much left to give The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.