Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 848 GoodLifeFamilyMag.com SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2016 Tragedy to Triumph EX-FOOTBALL PLAYER USES HIS WORDS TO PREVENT OTHERS FROM USING THEIR HANDS by Karyn Brodsky "Domestic violence knows no age, gender, race, religion or socioeconomic status. It can happen to anyone.” -Chris Johnson If the true test of a person’s strength is how they cope with adversity, then football player Chris Johnson is a very powerful individual. He turned a major tragedy in his life into a great deal of wisdom. Johnson, a cornerback for the Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens, lost his precious 33-year-old sister Jennifer to domestic violence. On December 5, 2012, Jennifer’s 46-year-old estranged boyfriend confronted her in the parking lot of her Fort Worth, TXapartmentcomplex.Thetwo had severed their relationship, but Jennifer had allowed him to see their daughter. On that day, her ex-boyfriend expressed anger and jealousy that Jennifer was seeing another man. He fatally shot Jennifer four times and wounded Chris’ and Jennifer’s mother who was with her at the time. The murder of his sister hit Chris hard. He and Jennifer were only 15 months apart in age, and they were very close growing up as the children of a single mother. As adults, they were best friends and spoke by phone every day. Chris, the only boy in the family, felt like it was always his place to protect his sisters and mother, and at the moment of her murder, he came to the painful realization that he could not. When Jennifer was killed, Chris lost a sister, his mother lost a daughter, and Jennifer’s daughters lost their mother. Jennifer’s older daughter Sidney—who was born only twelve days apart from Chris’ daughter—was 13 years old when she lost her mother to violence. Sidney lived with Chris and his family for 18 months before deciding to live with her grandparents and baby Chris with his wife Mioshi, daughter Krissy, 18, sons Brannon, 15 and Christopher, 10.