Anything for Love

By Kristopher Heckman

A once outcast in school unwittingly finds love for the first time. Looked at as a troublemaker, the young writer sits in class as the events of 9/11 unfold, and thus an unforgettable journey begins. Enlisting in the army, he finds himself in combat in the unforgiving mountainous terrain of Afghanistan. When an explosion leaves him temporarily blind, the phrase Everything happens for a reason resonates with him for the first time.

The reader accompanies Sgt. Heckman as he journeys through war, recovery, loss, and love to see how even the worst situations can have a happy ending.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504912587

Kristopher Heckman

Kristopher “Kid Seven” Heckman is a thirty-one-year-old singer-songwriter and author from Syracuse, New York. During his childhood, he was absorbed into the world of writing and creating storylines that people could relate to. The words in his head always synthesized into some form of entertainment, whether it was music, poems, short stories, or novels. He was never really into sports and focused most of his time writing music and stories. School was focused on math and science, while his mind was programmed toward creating and inspiring. He always felt teachers talked down to him because he dreamed so big. In May 2005 he graduated from Cayuga Community College and went straight to the music capital of the world—Nashville, Tennessee. He attended Middle Tennessee State University for audio engineering, and within four months, he was signed. Although the label’s main focus was on another artist, he learned a lot about artist development, song writing, and artist image. While attending Middle Tennessee State University, he was unable to pay the cost of tuition and decided to “cross into the blue.” He enlisted into the United States Air Force in August 2006. The military was a family business, so he decided if he couldn’t afford college, he would honor his family’s legacy. Kristopher’s writing focuses on the positive aspects of life, drawing from his experiences in the air force. He uses social media websites to promote and distribute his work. His music is available as Kid Seven: The Kid Has Landed.

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© 2015 Kristopher Kid Seven Heckman. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/14/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-1259-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-1260-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-1258-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015905971

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Chapter One The Beginning

Chapter Two The Week of 9-11

Chapter Three A Day That Will Last a Lifetime

Chapter Four The Hospital

Chapter Five Recovery

Chapter Six Back To War

Chapter Seven Welcome Home Troops

Chapter Eight Life After War

About the Author

Inspired by multiple events in my life and the people with whom I served.

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my son (Kristopher Bryan Heckman) and father (David Dean Heckman). You two were the only things I had when I thought I had nothing. I now see I had everything I needed to be successful.

To all the men and women who sacrifice so much every day; I envy you. You’re my brothers and you’re my sisters. Had it not been for the years that I laced the same boots up that you lace up every day, I wouldn’t be the person I turned out to be. For that, I am grateful….

Sincerely yours,

Kristopher Heckman

P.S. Candy … Thanks for all your hard work editing!

CHAPTER ONE

The Beginning

I’ll never forget the day I walked alone out of the shadows. Out of a place I had for so long called home. Now, I understood this was not a normal place. I mean nothing is really normal about New York anyway. Cold as hell during the winter months, and during the summer it’s so humid you feel like you’re walking through sweat. Not to mention it’s constant rain during the springtime.

However, I have often asked myself, what is normal? What is average? I have even asked myself, what is pure? Is it the fresh water that makes rain taste so clean, or is it the brand new pair of blue jeans my mother bought me for my first day of high school? For so long, I could not distinguish the difference between normal and reality. Neither of these two matter anymore.

Walking in to school that day I felt like it was going to be a normal day. What I mean by that is, I was actually looking forward to seeing all my friends and hanging out. This was not a typical high school experience for me. What can I say; I was the typical senior who could not wait to graduate.

That day I saw something money could not buy and nature could not present to me. Today I felt something everyone will experience, but not everyone can have. It happened within a moment so quick that time couldn’t measure it with Nanoseconds.

It stuck me like a needle. Or more to the point, it hit me like a gust of wind I didn’t even know existed but still, somehow, I felt with every inch of my unwilling soul. It was a day I will never forget - the day I fell in love!

I was an average kid with above average dreams and a below average GPA. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do the work my teachers assigned; I just got lost and wrapped up, like a present you only get once in a lifetime. I mean, I was a dreamer, or, as I would call it, a go getter. I saw life as a gift, not as a measurement of society’s intellectual standards. I mean after all, I started drinking at age 14. Something I am not proud of; however, it was a chapter in my life. You might be asking how is this chapter going to end? How is it going to play out? Well, it’s the words of my own personal bible. It is the guide that led me to this moment that I felt that day, that’s how it’s going to end.

So where do I start? Do I tell you about my unforgiving past that led me to eventual destruction, or do I start from the moment I first saw her?

Love. Just thinking of the word used to make me cringe like a kid who got soap put into his mouth for foul language. Wasn’t it Shakespeare who so famously said, …My only love, spawned from my only hate…? Not that my family was at war with hers, but I hated the thought of love. It wasn’t for me. I was meant for Huckleberry Finn adventures— that dare to be great moment that captures a hero and inspires a youth and generation. Kind of like Michael Jordan taking the game to a whole new level or The Beastie Boys being the first white boys to ever do it big in hip-hop.

How could this happen? What did I do to deserve these feelings? Don’t get me wrong, I have had girlfriends and flings before, but how can one moment with a person I’ve never even spoken to outshine every feeling I’ve ever had in the past? Were the other girls not good enough of heart? Were their souls not pure and words not truth? All I knew was this strange feeling boiling inside of me