Nate and I met back my sophmore year. Jenny introduced us. Nate was... oh I'd say the first semi-serious relationship I think I've had. We dated for 4-5 years. During that time he really opened my eyes and made me a better person. We would go for walks everywhere... around his neighborhood, around my neighborhood, Bountiful, West Boutiful, North Salt Lake, orchards, fields, you name it. He was always trying to get me to sing, and finally won. lol. Gave me the courage to start singing in public and not be so shy about it.
We would talk about everything. Hanging out at his mom's, when he lived there. Or at the North Pointe apartments when he lived there with his cousin James. He would come to my dad's house and sit with me on the roof to watch the stars or stare off into the distance and just talk.
Some of my best memories were going to the dollar theature riding on the back of James (cousin) and Chris (brothers) bullet bikes in the rain. I spent the night and ended up being taken to his grandma's house for thanksgiving breakfast, (no hair brush, so my hair was a total mess but he would tell me I looked beautiful anyways). The looks from his mom were pretty funny. We were hanging out at his dad's in Kaysville, and ended up on the spur of the moment rescue mission to go save Jenny. We got halfway to the AZ border when she called it off and we had to come back... Jenny's wedding he surprised us and showed up, found out he had just gotten home from the army.
Nate would always find little rocks with words on them to stick in your pockets when you weren't looking. He collected penny's to put on his grandfather's grave. He was really close to him, and now he's buried beside him.
There is so much I could say about him. How kind he always was. Always buying gifts for friends or doing something for them. Never let you know what he was doing though. He never bragged about it and was always secrective about who he was doing what for. It was something special between him and them. His favorite store was the Dancing Crane. He took me to lunch there once. He loved going to Hawaii. Always wanting to take everyone there with him. His brothers meant everything to him. They all have the same tattoo... excpet the youngest two cause they aren't old enough for it lol. But they would draw it on with marker.
He was so OCD it was so funny. His brothers would come into his room and move his things just slightly off. If it was me I don't think I would notice, but Nate did every time. Then he spent 20 minutes making sure everything was put back into place. He had his clothes folded a specific way and put away in a specific place... shoelaces always neatly tucked inside his shoes. Clean clothes always had to be put away right away.
He loved the Om Symbol. He had it on everything. Used it in all of his decorations. It brought him a lot of peace. He was always willing to educate you on how to properly say it and what it meant.
Though Nate and I were so close and so many people thought we'd end up together, it just was not meant to be. We remained really close friends though. We did have a small fall out these past couple years, and started talking again this year. He eventually ended up dating men, and found those relationships to be just as hard as with females, but he always believed in Love. Love is blind. He was so excited to hear about Dave and I's wedding and the minion. Nate's birthday is October 13. I'm due Oct 14, I'm kinda hoping that minion will come a day early. Seems fitting that minion will be born on his and he died on mine.
His funeral was a hard one. His dad immediately recognized me. Came up and gave me a hug. His siblings are all so grown up. Jon looks just like him. I got to see some friends that I haven't seen in years, like Kristen and Nicole who were really close to him. It was hard to have them all come up and tell me that Nate had talked about me a lot and how much he loved me. The hardest part was seeing his brother Chris. Chris and Nate were so close and though he did his best to hang in there, once the army fired those 3 shots over his grave, Chris lost it. Heartbreaking.
Nate was a true friend. In every sense of the word and yes I did love him very much. I don't know how anyone could not love him. There wasn't anything in him to hate. He was an amazing person and this world has lost one amazing soul. Definitely not enough people like him in this world.
Its been hard to deal with, but I know that Nate is now with his grandfather who he loved so much and is not in pain any more. He's happy. He's home.
Makes you really think about everything that you have and how fast it can be taken away. I've really focused on forgiving others and not letting small things bother me. Dave doesn't always get why I talk to the people I do after they have screwed me over. I just see it as another opportunity to help them be better people. If I can forgive them then maybe they can learn from my example and forgive someone else. I know how lucky I am, and I don't tell the people around me how much I love them enough. I need to start doing that. God has blessed me so much, and now, if I'm lucky, maybe minion will have a guardian angel.
RIP Nate. I will miss you.
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