Nick Bown-Crawford

🕊️ My brother Anthony said I love you the way other people say goodbye.

He meant it every single time. To family. To friends. To people he had just met. He understood something the rest of us take much longer to learn, that love said out loud is the simplest and most important thing a person can give.

On April 15th Anthony had a massive stroke. He was 36. He had chosen to be a full organ, tissue, and eye donor, so when he could not speak for himself we honored his wishes. The care he received in his final days was the most dignity-driven process I have ever witnessed. Nurses flown in to work alongside the St. Joseph Hospital team around the clock. Surgeons who paused in silence to learn who he was before they began. An entire donor network up and down the West Coast holding vigil with his favorite album as he gave his final gifts.

On Sunday April 19th, nurses, doctors, and patients lined the halls of an entire hospital. Over a hundred friends and family came, the largest honor walk St. Joseph Hospital has ever seen. My mom and I walked with hands on him from the ICU to the operating room where we said goodbye to his physical self, one last time. More than a dozen people are alive or healed because of him. He is still out there doing what he always did. Still giving. Still loving people he will never meet.

Anthony’s most sacred place on earth was Houda Point in Trinidad. The marsh, the dunes, the wild coastline of Humboldt were his salvation in so many ways. He told us so, openly and often. I am so thankful he did - it means I have somewhere to go to be with him for the rest of my life.

I built a place to hold his story, his photos, and the spots that meant the most to him. You can visit Anthony at www.anthonybowncrawford.love

This is also where details about his Celebration of Life on June 21st, and how to make a gift in his honor to the @trinidadcoastallandtrust to help preserve Anthony’s favorite place on earth, Houda Point.

♥️ If his story moves you, please share it. Tell the people in your life that you love them. Tell your family what you would want.

Thank you @donatelifeamerica @mydnwest #donatelife #giftoflife #organdonation