Mark Charles Hernandez-Martin

As I looked up at the sky at 5:30AM, I noticed that part of the night sky was more clear to see than the rest. It was as if there was a circular window open to see more of the heavenly bodies than the rest of the sky. It made me think of God's creation and how He shows us His glory and how mighty He is to save and show His beauty.\u003cbr /\u003e Similarly, in a dark and murky world, Mark's light shined bright in the darkness. His love for life was contagious. His love for all things Disney, Sci-fi, good food and family shined all the time. Whatever he did, he did it with all his heart and soul. That light is still contagious, even though he is now absent in body. This is a tiny glimpse into the lens in which I saw God's gift in my life that was my brother Mark.\u003cbr /\u003e My life, growing up with Mark was a complete blessing and honor. We loved each other and fought and quarreled just as much as any siblings do. Anybody that knew us together knew that we were a united two-man comedy team. The good times outweighed the bad and the comedy show rolled on daily.\u003cbr /\u003e For those of us blessed to have grown up at 1028, we'll always remember the swimming pool, long summer days, good food, Nana and Papa and all the family. With Mark at the center of it all. Every day was a new adventure and an event. I remember the days when we rode our bikes to Market Basket for a free cookie. Or when we would go to the Edwards Cinema and steady all day as we jumped from one theatre to another.\u003cbr /\u003e We would also take the RTD bus to the Pasadena Plaza and play video games at tilt. Or chase each other through Macys trying to smear makeup on each other's face. We were always getting into some sort of trouble. There were the days we spent at Fiesta Floats decorating the San Gabriel Mission float. And the weeks we spent at Green oak Ranch in Oceanside. When we were old enough to drive, we purchased annual passes to Disneyland and would spend countless days in line for a 2minute ride or wait 2 hours for the best seat at the Main Street Electrical and Christmas parade. But, through it all, I always knew my big brother Mark would always have my back. \u003cbr /\u003e As hard as this last year was, it was a joy to watch Mark. When we visited him in Orlando and to go to Disney World, we saw that he truly had arrived. He was living his dream at his dream job. His first text message to me when we landed, he told me "Welcome Disney World! This is my playground and I love to play." I do confess that when though we are not big Disney fans, we played right along with him and enjoyed every minute with him in his home. \u003cbr /\u003eI can't say enough of my life with my brother. I can go on and on and if I wrote it all down there would be enough text here to crash the internet. Part of me died with Mark. So I'll leave you with the knowledge that over the last week, my brother leaned on giving his heart and whatever he had left of his life to Jesus. It all happened so quickly. I'm thankful that he has entered into his eternal rest. Life is but a breath of wind and all flesh is like the grass. The grass and withers and fades away… 1 Peter 1:24\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI like to think of Marks last breath like this clip adapted from the book "The Pilgrims progress"\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1WVpqfR4qs\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1WVpqfR4qs\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUntil we meet again, until then it's just a brief goodbye and thank you for being my big brother. Soon we will all be together, casting our crowns at the feet of our Lord and King Jesus. Who died and bled in our place so that one day we will breathe our first breath in His kingdom with joy unending and to breathe with lungs unfailing. \u003cbr /\u003eYour baby brother,\u003cbr /\u003eCharlie