The Nathan Edition

I’m sorry to have to report that a certain visit from a certain young man is quickly coming to an end.

Nathan will head back to Florida on Friday morning, leaving behind many happy memories and wonderful sprinkles of Nathanism. I can’t tell you how lovely it’s been having the four of us back together for a couple weeks, especially in the aftermath of my surgery and recovery. Having Nathan’s goofy, wacky, loving presence back in my life has been good medicine.

I know that whenever he comes home after a long absence, I always take endless pictures of things around the house that officially announce his presence. Usually, it’s keys.

This time around, however, I got a picture of his Bible (which he got on his 18th birthday from Steve and me) lying on the coffee table.

Another picture of Nathan Stuff; I especially love this one.

As you can probably tell, Nathan did some some yard work while he was here, pulling weeds, spreading mulch, and other miscellaneous yard type duties. Nothing quite like having our own Yard Man! (Or should I say, Yard Dude?)

Of course, his presence in our lives also meant that a lot more food was consumed than normal. During a recent (rare) meal out, Nathan ordered TWO appetizers for his meal—boneless chicken wings and mozzarella sticks. I was astonished at how much food that child can put away! (He’s either smelling the food or praying over it—I’m not quite sure.)

Here’s Nathan with his entire family—the three people who will miss him most dreadfully when he goes.

And to close, here are a few vintage picture of Nathan, just to give me even more reason to get all sniffly and weepy over his soon departure. (As I’ve stated before, I will only post these types of family pictures if you solemnly promise you will not laugh at the different permutations of my hair style.)

I’ve never posted this one before and, even though Nathan isn’t prominently featured, the picture still made me smile. I’m not quite sure where this particular outhouse was, but we sure were having a good time with it! (My mom is between Steve and me, then it’s Randy and Debbie, and then Steve’s parents.)

Nathan with his late Grandpa Campbell. The two of them were best buddies.

This was taken when all three Hawley sisters and Nathan were part of a musical production at the church Steve used to pastor in Smithfield. Nathan and Meagan weren’t dating at that time; he was just friends with all of them.

Nathan is about the same age (14) as Sarah is right now. This was taken while Sarah was in treatment and she and I were gone a lot. Nathan had a lot to cope with that year—sister diagnosed with cancer; mom and sister at the hospital most of the time, new school, change in lifestyle, new church, etc. Steve and I are so proud of the way he made it through a very tough time.

And so ends the Nathan Edition. Hope you enjoyed it!