By Peyton Walker
Major Jonathan “J.D” Walker was the J3 for JISTIF (Special Operations) who gained the respect of everyone he met. He was hardworking, brave, tactical, and confident. To me, he was my loving dad. Ten years ago, on October 1st, 2014, two gentlemen in dress uniforms came to tell us dad wasn’t coming home. My dad lost his life overseas in Doha, Qatar just fifteen days after leaving for his last deployment before retirement.
I often think back of memories with my dad. Once he brought me to a princess movie that I was supposed to watch with my girl scout troop. When we arrived, he realized that all the parents had just dropped off their 10-year-olds, and we didn’t have a chaperone. My dad bought a ticket and proudly sat in the theater with all 20 of us, watching the silly princess movie. Another time at Disneyworld, he auditioned for American Idol, as he frequently woke us up in the morning by coming in our rooms and belting some off-key tune. We frequented our neighborhood gas station on his motorcycle to stock up on chocolate and sodas, before having sleepovers in the living room watching Storage Wars all night.
My dad loved us so much and had such a high standard for my brother and I, because he knew we had the capacity to truly be amazing. When he passed away, instead of giving up, I decided I would be so great that there would be zero questions that he would’ve been impressed by. I decided to go to the University of Tampa and double major in Accounting and Marketing.
By attending SOWF’s EPIC (educational planning informational conference), I was able to gain the knowledge I needed to apply and stand out to colleges. I’m so grateful for SOWF fully funding my college career as well. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to attend the lovely University of Tampa and receive the quality education that I did. In my senior year of college, I attended Spookstock in D.C and secured a job for after graduation as an accountant for MidAmerican, where I have now worked for almost two years.
SOWF gave me the opportunity to do everything I set out to do, without the worry of “how”. There was never a question or worry in my mind or my mom’s of how I would be financially able to achieve the goals I set out to do.
Thank you SOWF for always having my back and cheering me on. Thank you to all the donors and sponsors of SOWF that help them make such an impact on our lives. You are making a difference in families just like mine.
