Celebrating His Life

I first met Christian in the 6th or 7th grade, and there was something I always liked about him, it was his beautiful smile. I can't help but smile when I think of him. In 8th grade something happened to make us not such good friends, but right now I can't remember what it was. After 8th grade, we forgave each other at the Starlite skating rink and I am so happy to know that he knows that he was indeed my close friend. Because I was so accustomed to seeing him everyday, I feel as though a piece of my life is missing, now that he's gone. I don't know if Christian ever knew that I felt this way about him, but I do. I have peace in my heart knowing that he's in a better place. He will be deeply missed.

We all will miss you Christian,

Jeffrey

My children often tell me that I am a paranoid and over protective parent. When I look back at my life's experiences I realize that they are probably correct. I watch too much forensic files type TV and worked in Emergency Rooms for over 20 years. There are, in my estimation, many reasons to worry about in being sure your kids grow up safely.

One day, some time ago, my daughter Ali asked that she be able to go to a movie with a male friend. I do not have to tell you that this made me very apprehensive. My little girl wanted to go out on her own, and at only 15. The thought of who this young man was, or not, was pretty scary to me. Was he a gentleman? Was he going to respect my daughter appropriately? Was he going to be what I understood a typical boy to be? Pretty scary stuff for a parent like me.

Over the next months, I provided transportation for many trips to the Malls and movie theatres. While I was in their shared presence during these trips, I payed very close attention to this young man and his interaction with my daughter. I soon realized that I had truly been blessed. What had I ever done to deserve my daughter coming into the warm graces of such a fine young man.

This young man's name was Christian Benitez. And while he was only 15, or so, he really was quite a man. He understood many things in life that many people never seem to come to understand. He surely was wise much beyond his years. I will always be thankful to Christian for his friendship with daughter. He meant more to her than we can ever know.

Following that tragic Sunday night, my daughter began to reflect on all that Christian had meant to her. These were the days that I realized just how blessed we were that he was in our lives. I was proud, and relaxed, about their relationship for he was the opposite of all that I had worried about. He was a real gentleman. Soon I understood that he had done so much more for her. He had actively cultivated her mentality, emotional maturity, academic standard, work ethic, and so much more. She is surely a much better person as a direct relation to their friendship.

As I sit here and type, I find myself hoping that all the people that knew Christian would place a note here also because Christian's parents need to be aware of what an amazing job they have done in raising such an outstand your man. He truly was amazing and we are very appreciative of the time we had the opportunity to participate in his life, and he in ours.

Michael Yeomans

Christian is my beloved nephew. I was there at the hospital when my sister went into labor and Christian was born. Charlie came down crying to give us the news. I was worried but it turned out to be tears of joy. Every chance I had I would spent it with Christian. I took care of him since he was a baby and we became very close. Then when Christian was 3 years old I had my first son Marc. I couldn’t wait to come home to show Christian his new cousin. He was like an older brother to my son. They would always play together. Then a year later his sister Kaitlyn and my second son Brian were born.

My sister and I were very fortunate to have my mother and father help to take care of our kids while we worked. We had a full house in our little apartment that we shared together, so a couple of years later we purchased a house together. Our kids grew up together. They went to the same school and my sons went to Karate with him. They loved to play with Christian. Then I got married and had two daughters, Jessica and Jasmin. So now Kaitlyn had some girls to play with. Christian loved to play with my daughters. He was so lovable and kind to them. We were all a big happy family.

Unfortunately, my apartment was to small for my big family so we ended moving to Pennsylvania. My kids and I were very sad when we had to leave. But we made sure that we would visit each other often and keep in touch.

Then my sister had a baby girl, Jocelyn Roxanne Benitez. Christian and Kaitlyn were overjoyed to have a baby sister to play with. I was so happy for Christian and Kaitlyn and at that time I was expecting my third daughter Sandra. Sadly, 5 months later Jocelyn passed away and she never got the chance to meet her new cousin. I wanted our girls to grow up together like our other kids did. Our entire family was overwhelmed with grief to lose our beloved Jocelyn. Christian was very broken hearted and he cried uncontrollably. It broke my heart to see him in so much pain.

Then my sister and her family moved to Georgia. It broke my heart to have them move so far away. Christian always made sure to call and make plans to visit us over the summer or during school holidays. I love him so much and I miss him dearly.

When Charlie called me early Monday, April 2nd there are no words to describe the pain I felt in my heart not only for losing a wonderful nephew but the pain and agony my sister, her husband and my niece were experiencing not for one but two children. I couldn’t stop crying and I kept saying “It’s not fair, not him lord, not my Christian”. I hugged my pillow tightly and kept rocking my body back and forth. Christian was supposed to visit me this summer. My kids and I were so excited. It had been a while that I did not see him and he was growing up so quickly.

When I read his story about his source of inspiration, I cried because I knew that it would be about his baby sister Jocelyn. I am very proud of all his accomplishments. He was an honor student. He just got accepted into a college program and he got lead roles in acting. He worked hard on everything he did. He was doing so many wonderful things for his future. I remember how excited he was when he called me to tell me he got accepted into college. He was a great kid and he did not deserve this fate.

Christian, I know that you can hear me. I love you and I miss you. I wish that we can go back in time and spare you this fate. Now you are reunited with your beloved baby sister Jocelyn. I will always remember you and I will miss you terribly. My heart will always ache for you and Jocelyn (my two beautiful angels). You will always be in my prayers.

Love always (now and forever) your aunt Santa Ramirez

I browsed Christian's entire memorial. It is amazing that Christian, while so young, was so grown up. He touched so many people in such a short time. I will never forget that day. About 3:30 a.m. I was leaving my house to go to work. I remember hearing my wife's (proud grandma Barbara) cell phone beeping, but, I could not see or find it. I remember trying to locate the cell phone to see who tried to call her at such a late hour. I thought something may have been wrong, or possibly just a wrong number. Anyway, I headed to work and forgot all about it. I drive a truck, and was on my way to my first stop. I was just passing the Staten Island Mall (In New York), and my cell phone rang. I was talking to my friend Ray on a two way work phone and told him I would catch him later, that someone was calling my cell. Before I even answered the phone, I knew it was one of two things. My wife could not sleep, or, bad news. Sadly, it was the later. Charlie was crying so badly, and he told me I was not going to believe this. "I said what happened"? Charlie told me they thought Christian my be dead. I said, "What do you mean you think he may be dead". Then he began telling me the story that Christian never came home, and never even called him to let him know where he was and that was unlike Christian. Then Charlie told me that there was a bad car accident where 3 kids were killed, and he told me that everything that he knew about the accident made him believe it was Christian. I felt so bad when he was telling me this. I really did not know what to say. I just remember saying to myself that Charlie, Nydia and Kaitlyn did not deserve to go through this again. And Christian was such a smart and loving kid, and it seemed like he was heading for big things in life, it just does not make sense when you think about it. Not that I wish harm to anyone, but there are lots of bad people in the world, stealing, killing, etc... Why Christian ???. After Jocelyn passed away, they moved to Georgia to leave the bad memories behind, now this. I would miss hanging out with Charlie, playing basketball, or getting my butt kicked in Play Station basketball. Christian use to kick my butt in all the time too. I think the game was Tekken. Charlie remembers. Christian knew all of the special moves. I did not stand a chance. I was even amazed when Christian was probably 6 or 7 and already had Mario Brothers mastered. I had no idea what he was doing. He showed me how to play. But, when I would mess up his game, he would get all upset and say, "let me do it". He wanted to fix what I messed up. Funny, huh !

Charlie is actually my stepson, but, I never think of him that way. I consider Charlie a friend. Charlie is a great person, a hard worker, and loves his family very much. Anytime Charlie would visit us, or we would visit Charlie, we would always try to play some hoops (basketball). Charlie was amazed that I could beat him once in a while. Guess he figured it was not cool losing to an old man (47). That's why I am even more sad that Charlie's family had to suffer another tragic loss. Charlie and Nydia are great parents. Stay strong !

Michael Yeomans wrote a really nice letter. He sounds like a very concerned parent. Sometimes that is a lost art these days. Although I have no kids, I have a niece Megan who I treat like a daughter. Charlie and Nydia really do not need to hear from all of us on what a great person Christian was. They already know this. But it is heartwarming that so many people are keeping his memory alive. Reading Michael Yeomans letter, I can echo his words. Like I said, I am not a parent, but consider my niece Megan, like a daughter to me, and always worry about the company she keeps. It is only natural. When Christian would visit, he would hang out with Megan. Megan really liked Christian. If I could hand pick a boyfriend for my niece, Christian would be the one. Christian always made her laugh. Unfortunately, there are not many people like Christian in this world, and now he's gone. I will never forget the exact place I was at when I heard about 911, and I will never forget the exact place I was at when I heard about Christian's death. I will have no choice but to think of Christian every time I drive by the Staten Island Mall.

ANDY LENTO

I am very broken-hearted over the news of my precious grandson Christian. I am his maternal grandmother on Nydia's side. Christian is one of 17 grandchildren. Christian is a very special boy and he was very lovable. Anyone that knows him would say the same. When Christian was born I was one of the proudest grandmothers in the world. Christian grew up to be someone that everyone was proud of (especially me). He was doing so many wonderful things for his future and family. The last thing that he told me was that he loved me and that he would see me in July. I will never forget him. He will always be in my heart right next to his baby sister Jocelyn.

Love always, Grandma Eva

As I read everyone else's memories I was so glad to see that each and everyone saw Christian for what he truly was and how extraordinary the mark is that he's left on all of our lives.

Just a few weeks ago I went over to the house to visit the family and hang out with Charlie. As usual Christian was in his room when I got there either doing homework, studying or just on his computer chatting or playing a game; he came out to the living room and just smiled and said, "hey uncle Jules" and retreated back to his room. Right when he said it I realized to myself... wow he still calls me "uncle Jules' it made me smile. I guess up to that moment I had taken it for granted but that day I took it in for a few seconds, I thought to myself - when I was 15 I thought I was too cool to give anyone give anyone even that much, I figured they should just be happy I'm acknowledging them - In my opinion it would've been typical teenage behavior for him to come out, nod at me and keep it moving but that was just one of the many tiny things that made Christian stand out, he still allowed me the honor of calling me "Uncle Jules" even at the cool age of 15.

I'll be honest; I was content with just watching Christian from the sidelines, I couldn't believe how much I admired someone half my age. I didn't wanna be the fly in the ointment of whatever Nydia and Charlie were doing to raise such an outstanding person I just wanted to see all the potential met, the result of all the love and nurturing that Charlie and Nydia provided him. I just knew he'd make his family so proud and I was just tagging along for the ride and couldn't be happier about it. This is such a devastating loss, not only to his family and friends but truly to the world! Christian sought to reach out to people with everything he did, he wanted to entertain, and he wanted to ease people's pain as an anesthesiologist and as I read his friends memories of him I realize even as a child from his first grade-school friend he was constantly giving pieces of himself to others and I reluctantly realize why God needed him so early, he saw all of the things we've all touched on, God knew this world sorely needed another selfless soul to pour itself into everyone else's problems... if I know Christian, he's in heaven as I write this and already tapping god on the shoulder giving ideas on how to make things better and asking what he can do to make it happen. Just as importantly though... god knew Jocelyn needed her big brother, we're truly blessed to have these angles watching over us. I'll end it with this - I know Christian loved his little sister Kaitlyn to bits and I'm going to make every effort to make sure I'm not watching Kaitlyn from the sidelines and try my hardest to be just a tiny part of her life that fills the huge void of losing her big brother... I know it's what he would've wanted.

Thanks to Charlie and Nydia, I love you guys and hope you can find joy by reading all of these memories and know he'll forever be loved and missed by so many.

Regards,

Jules D. Sanchez

Christian and I were good friends for a year and a half, but you would think we had known each other longer because I knew everything about him and he knew everything about me. When I heard the news a lot of things ran through my mind, but it wasn't until later on that I remembered the things that I said to him that ended up becoming true right before my eyes. Like deeming someone else my "new best friend" because he was leaving to go to college; or betting him that we would have no classes together because we had almost everyone together this year; the one that hurts most of all is when I told him that I don't have friends for more than two years because I have never stayed at a school for that long.

I don't know what to say really because more than anything, Christian and I shared school. Which I know he took seriously. Freshman year is when I met Christian, we were cool, but we didn't become close until our honors English field trip. We had so much fun. The best part was when we got pay back on the teachers after they had pranked the students. Something even funnier was recently this year before Christmas and we went to go study for finals together. I had just eaten a blue candy cane and my lips looked like the ocean. His mom drove over to the middle school to pick up his little sister, Kaitlyn, as we drove, I thought that the color had worn off so I put on lip gloss. Big Mistake! It made it worse, and I could see Kaitlyn staring at me like I was crazy. And Christian didn't tell me how much of a clown I looked like until we got out of the car.

I begged Christian to come out for our mock trial team this year, I was a recruiting machine, but Christian was the one that stayed for the long run. And before we would go into a round he would sing "Fergalicious" and that became our theme song, and it helped us win our rounds because of the spirits we had. The day of the competition I was so distraught because we didn't win, but Mrs. Nydia was there telling us how good we had been. Someone from the team reminded today me of that day and what she said; and someone else today told us that they were happy that we didn't win finals to go to state. And I must say I am glad too. You can't replace a vital part of what has helped bring you soo far.

I saw that his "Laws of Life" essay was posted on this site. I have read it before and I know how much his little sister meant to him. I just knew that we would be recognized because our stories really deserved it, I would joke and say mines would win though, but I always believed that his story was touching enough. He told me how a short story called the "Pedestrian" we had read in honors English reminded him of Jocelyn.

You hear people walking around the school talking about all the crying that was being done. But you can't help but feel sorry for them because they didn't know Christian and couldn't identify with us. Trust me there isn't a lot of them, even if he wasn't a friend to them, Christian knew everyone. Even then I would rather them wonder than to cry tears that were not thoughtful. Even when we went to the movies, some random girl just happen to be sitting there while we were in line, and wouldn't you know it Christian knew her. I'm not going to lie that was not the only person we ran into that Christian knew. These weren't like people he sees everyday, because we didn't even go to school with them. I will never get over him, but I will become more content with this loss overtime. As I hope will happen with his family one day.

They say that a good friend only comes once in a lifetime, and I know that he had plenty of friends, but I hope that I was that one friend to him.

Luv Ya, See you when I get there.

Shanead

I love Christian, always and forever.

Jessie Braudy

My first year teaching Honors English I is when I first met Christian. He had a warmth and smile that radiated and drew you in immediately. Anyone who knew him would agree that it was simply impossible to not like him. Scrabble was a passion that Christian and I shared, and we played daily. To this day, he is my favorite Scrabble partner, and fiercest competitor. I will also remember fondly our field trips to the Shakespeare Tavern, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and roller skating with him at midnight. He was such a generous person - giving me gifts on Mother's Day and for the birth of my baby. More than the gifts, I will treasure the kind words in the cards he included. I know that teachers aren't supposed to have favorites, but I did, and Christian was mine. I will miss him always.

Ellen Marston
English Department
Union Grove High School

Christian maybe weren't the closest of friends, but he had that gift of loving people he knew even a little bit. I remember last year we were a lot closer. One of my friends secretly had the biggest crush on him and always tried to get me to talk to him. Wouldn't you know it? They ended up being better friends. We spent time together on the Honors English trip last year, and I knew then that he was an extremely special person.

I couldn't believe it when Theresa told me yesterday that he was gone. I had seen him the Friday before break ( and meaning like I always did) and wanted to talk to him, but there was no time to get to class and the reassurance that I had forever to take. Well forever's here and gone and we know that God took him for some reason. Maybe to tell us that we're not invincable, but he always loved us.

You're already missed, and we will see you soon friend.

Cassie

Regrettably, I didn't get to know Chris as the young man that he turned out to be. I feel so foolish now...I am able to see in these recent pictures that "fuzz" of a hair line..which eventually...would've become a true mustache! Unbelievable, how kids...grow up so fast! I only knew Christian in the younger years. When the family lived in NYC. Even then, he was a very sweet, caring, intelligent, boy. A loving teaser towards Kaitlyn, my daughter Kayla & younger son Justin. He was the big brother to all. You could always see both Nydia & Charlie in him. He had a little bit of both! What a personality! A true Gem. I've been a friend of Nydia for so many years...so busy with our families & children. Not knowing, not realizing how fragile we truly are. Thinking that there is always time...for tomorrow.

I still remember when Nydia called me excitedly with the news..."I'm pregnant!" This was the most exciting EVENT! After all, Christian was "our" 1st child, amongst all of our friends. You can image...the excitement...such mystery!

I have so many sweet & enduring memories of Christian along with Kaitlyn & my kids. They were a bunch! When Jocelyn came...she was the icing to the cake! Bless her little soul!!!

Christian will never be forgotten. He was loved by my family & still is. This news has taken a toll on all of us...and to think that I didn't even know that Kayla had a crush on you! She did, but never said a word to me...there is an age difference you know! and I am a strict mom! She even dared to ask...(excitedly) did Nydia say..if he had a crush on me too?!

Against all the hardships that my Dear Nydia & Charlie have endured, they truly were parents first. Their kids before anything else and it showed. It shows in this web site along with all the family & friends of how precious Christian continued to be.

Christian, in your honor I'm making a vow to re-connect with all my friends & families that I truly love & miss so much. Cannot let the every day duties or the small stuff, consume me anymore. I wish that I could've seen you this year.

My heart is very much broken... & reaches out to your family who I hold so dear. Who I love as family. You are in my prayers.

We love you!!!

Nancy, Kayla & Justin