Gordon Cowden, a father of four, was with two of his daughters when he was shot and killed in theater 9.
“We have strength but at moments you’ll just breakdown and lose it,” Brooke, who was with her father when he died, tells Anderson Cooper.
A makeshift memorial of 12 white crosses sits close to the Colorado theater. On the cross that has Gordon’s name written across the top, there is this message: “Dad, it was a surreal disorienting night, what was certain was your calling to us, I love you both.”
“My dad taught me what it meant to be a man. He was a father first and last and always,” says Gordon’s son, Weston. “He lived so passionately and lived life like it was supposed to be lived.”
Brooke reminisces about one of the last days she spent with her father. “We went to a local park where there was a concert going on and we actually danced at that concert and I’ll remember that dance for a very long time,” she says to Anderson.
If you'd like to donate in his memory, gifts may be made to the Gordon Cowden Children's Memorial Fund at any Chase Bank location.