My heart hurts as I share this news,
especially after all of us came together earlier this year to rally around a little boy who showed the world what courage truly looks like.
This is the kind of pain that does not arrive suddenly,
but settles slowly into the chest,
lingering there,
heavy and unrelenting.
Julian Galloway has passed away.
The ten-year-old boy whose name so many people learned to say with hope in their voices,
the child whose journey pulled strangers into a shared circle of prayer and belief,
the brave soul who carried a burden far heavier than his small body should have ever been asked to bear.
Just days before Christmas,
while homes were being decorated and calendars were filling with plans for celebration,
Julian lost his long and valiant battle with brain cancer.
He passed peacefully,
cradled in the arms of his parents, Lee and Monica,
held close by the people who loved him more fiercely than anything else in this world.
There were no alarms.
No rushing footsteps.
No more difficult decisions left to make.
Only quiet.
Only the sound of grief settling into a room that had known too much pain already.
Julian was diagnosed with brain cancer just two days before Christmas in 2019,
a moment that permanently altered what the holidays would mean for his family forever.
While others were wrapping gifts and planning gatherings,
Lee and Monica were learning medical terms they never wanted to know,
and preparing themselves for a journey no parent is ever truly ready to face.
From that point forward,
Christmas became more than a season of joy.
It became a marker of time.
A reminder of hospital corridors,
of waiting rooms filled with quiet fear,
of prayers whispered late at night when hope felt fragile but necessary.
Julian fought for years.
Not loudly.
Not with anger or bitterness.
But with a calm, steady bravery that left everyone who followed his story deeply humbled.
He endured treatments that would have overwhelmed most adults.
He lived through pain that words struggle to capture.
And still,
he smiled.
He laughed when he could.
He showed up to each day with a determination that made people stop and question their own definition of strength.
Julian was never just a patient.
He became a symbol.
A symbol of courage in the face of something unimaginably unfair.
A symbol of resilience when the odds were stacked impossibly high.
A reminder that heroism does not always announce itself,
and sometimes lives quietly inside a child who refuses to give up.
Through his journey,
Julian raised awareness for childhood brain cancer.
He gave a voice to families who often suffer in silence.
His story traveled far beyond the Coastal Bend,
reaching people who had never met him,
yet felt deeply connected to him.
Strangers followed his updates.
They shared his story.
They prayed for him as if he were their own child.
His name became familiar in homes he would never visit,
spoken softly with hope and concern.
People believed in him.
They believed because Julian gave them something to believe in.
The Corpus Christi Police Department recognized what so many already knew.
They honored Julian as an honorary officer.
Not for what he wore.
Not for any uniform or badge.
But for who he was.
Fearless.
Joyful.
Determined.
Julian embodied the kind of courage that cannot be trained,
the kind that comes from deep within,
the kind that inspires others simply by existing.
“Officer Julian” became more than a title.
It became a sign of respect.
A reminder that bravery has no age requirement.
A reminder that leadership and strength can come from even the smallest among us.
Even as his body grew weaker,
Julian’s spirit never did.
He continued to fight.
He continued to inspire.
He continued to teach the world what it looks like to face fear without surrendering to it.
And then,
just days before Christmas,
the fight came to an end.
Not because Julian stopped trying.
But because cancer took more than it ever should have been allowed to take.
For Lee and Monica,
this Christmas will never feel the same again.
There will be no familiar excitement filling the house.
No small voice asking when it is time to open presents.
No quiet moments watching their son experience the simple joy of being a child.
There will be an empty space where Julian should be,
and a silence that feels louder than any celebration ever could.
The holidays that once carried hope will now carry memory.
Memory of a son who fought with everything he had.
Memory of a boy who changed his parents’ lives forever.
Memory of a child who taught an entire community about courage without ever trying to.
But Julian is not truly gone.
He lives on in the hearts of those who loved him.
He lives on in the awareness he helped raise.
He lives on in the children who may one day receive earlier diagnoses,
stronger support,
and more compassion because his story mattered.
He lives on in every prayer spoken for another child still fighting.
He lives on in every act of kindness inspired by his journey.
Please take a moment to leave your condolences for his family.
Please lift Lee and Monica up in prayer,
as they navigate a loss no parent should ever have to endure.
There are some losses that words can never fully carry.
There are some children who enter this world not to stay long,
but to leave something powerful behind.
Julian was one of them.
He showed us that courage can look like a smile through pain.
That hope can exist even in the coldest hospital rooms.
That a child’s bravery can move an entire community.
Rest peacefully, sweet boy.
Thank you for your strength.
Thank you for your light.
🙏 Rest in peace, “Officer Julian.”
Christmas will never be the same —
and neither will we.
Remembering Marine Corporal Roberto Cazarez: A Life of Service and Sacrifice
On March 30, 2012, America lost one of its finest when Marine Corporal Roberto Cazarez was killed in action during combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Just 24 years old, Cazarez was serving as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, carrying out the mission he had embraced with courage and conviction from the moment he put on the uniform. His death was a reminder of the steep price paid by those who answer their nation’s call—and of the enduring spirit of the United States Marine Corps.
Roberto Cazarez embodied what it means to be a Marine: disciplined, loyal, and selfless. He belonged to a generation that came of age in a time of war, yet he did not hesitate to serve. His
Leave a Reply