I'm Okay If You're Okay

About this book

Chris AuCoin was the epitome of strength, bravery, and professional profi ciency, a Marinewho later rose through the ranks of the New Hampshire State Police and SWAT Team, securing a reputation for excellence, competency, and dependability. A beloved son, brother, husband, and father of three girls, Chris was an icon in the New Hampshire lawenforcement community. Known as "the rock," nothing rattled Chris-not the life-or-death nature of his job, his military past, or the medical challenges he endured. Chris wasthe toughest man anyone knew, until he wasn't.Over the course of a decade, Chris was violent and unpredictable, destructive anddangerous-and then, calm, apologetic, and committed to a restoration of peace.Eventually, the pain became too powerful. One December night in 2022, Chris entered thewoods near his home in New Hampshire, burrowed into the frozen frost of the underbrush, and took his own life.This is the recounting of an extraordinarily courageous life, and the cataclysmic impactof addiction, and psychological despair. Filled with personal accounts of those closestto Chris, his story exposes the magnitude of PTSD in our culture, law enforcementcommunities and military veterans: How a physical specimen of strength and profoundachievement can still succumb to the invisible disfi gurements of this insidious disease.All proceeds benefi t veterans' and law enforcement support organizations.