Natalie took birthdays seriously, especially her own. Better put, Natalie took her birthday seriously. She was a bit of a birthday diva. Doris also took Natalie’s birthday very seriously as well. Turning 16 was a big birthday for Natalie and her and Doris planned an elaborate scavenger hunt all through Sandpoint - I think there were about sixteen girls making up four teams of four. I should add, they were very competitive girls.

At the end of the scavenger hunt, we were literally sprinting to get to the finish line at the city beach. I can’t remember if my team won but a fight broke out because my team had not listened to the rules and ruined the game.

Natalie and Doris were a bit upset because they had worked so hard but the mistake didn’t let it ruin this great day. I think a few of us had a slumber party that night and stole Ken’s booze - sorry, Ken.

I used to spend most of Natalie’s birthdays with her and she with me. She came to visit me in college for one of her birthdays and we spent one of my birthdays in Paris together. Before she died I was going to suggest she come to NYC for her birthday. I still regret not asking sooner.

Hope you planned something elaborate this year Natalie;it is your Jesus year and I imagine you should be taking it very seriously. 

I love this picture.  It makes me happy to remember her when she was well.
She loved everyone.  On this picture she loved Joelle, Carole and most of all her 
dear mum.  
Natalie was well when that picture was taken.  We had fun together and I miss her. 
Natalie had great friends that are still in touch today.   Time makes it easier but it doesn't make us forget .  I will miss you forever.  
 

I love this picture.  It makes me happy to remember her when she was well.
She loved everyone.  On this picture she loved Joelle, Carole and most of all her 
dear mum.  
Natalie was well when that picture was taken.  We had fun together and I miss her. 
Natalie had great friends that are still in touch today.   Time makes it easier but it doesn't make us forget .  I will miss you forever.  
 

It's almost been a year and everyday I've been sending a hug to heaven. Nat and I grew up together with a blurred lined between friends and family, as our fathers were friends before they married our mothers. One of my favorite memories with Natty was visiting her family when they lived in Colorado. Since we both had brothers, it was like Christmas finally having a girl to play with. We had the best time making up stories and running all around the house where she introduced me to the amazingness of a "secret" room (I still want one). 

While Nat and I didn't spend a lot of time together, we had roots that went deep. The last time I saw her was at my wedding, when she flew all the way across country to make my special day even more spectacular. She was struggling, but nothing could dim her megawatt smile. She's the type of person that you can't help but love and want to be around and it's been amazing to see how many lives she has touched even with her physically gone. She might be gone, but she will never be forgotten and her stories will be shared for generations to come.

Karen Seashore's wonderful story about Natalie the competitor reminds me of how much she relished Sandpoint High's powder puff football tradition. She prided herself on being a "strong safety" (emphasis on "strong"). It was a flag football game, but she kept TACKLING the opposing team. "Penalty on Number 86!" would echo across Memorial Field and she wouldn't regret it for a second.

At some fundraising auction (I can't remember for what), I bought a framed photo of the team with her in a prominent position. The bidding was spirited because so many of the girls were in prominent positions (each mother thinking her daughter's was the most), but my bid carried the day. I'm so glad it did.

Photo to come. 

My Sweet Natalie:

It’s been 2 weeks since you left us and I haven’t been able to put my thoughts down.  How can we cope when one of the most amazing girl’s has left us behind?  I know you are in a beautiful place, one that matches your magical view of life.  I first met you as Greg’s little waif of a sister; coloring, drawing, and dressing up, impervious to Greg and Eric’s loud and crazy games!  Your Mom and I were always protecting “our girls” from their big brothers who were always trying to grab all the attention.  But what a beautiful person you grew into:  smart, talented, but still with that sweetness that attracted people to you.  I was never more proud of you than when you graduated college, an accomplishment that took incredible determination and courage.  I will miss our long phone chats but I know you are still listening.

Love you always – Rose

Everyone seems to remember Natalie's princess side but I'll never forget her as a fierce opponent and a very competitive foe. When she was in high school, a bunch of us were invited to the Brookings' road rally. Our hosts had left clues all over the county which we had to decode as we, in several cars, raced to find the final destination.

At the pre-race party, I bragged to Natalie that we were favored to win because we were driving an Explorer (or some other adventuresome car brand which I have forgotten). Instantly, she fired back that she was in a Pathfinder so she would no doubt win first. (I may have both car names wrong.) I was stunned by how quick and witty she was and, of course, passionate and smiling. These qualities continued even when she was suffering with her mental demons. She treated us adults like dear friends and was ever so observant of how we did things (like making our own biscotti). She called us "crafty." She was fascinated by Tom for many reasons, but his main "attraction" was that he hails from Minnesota. She had a thing for Minnesota for a while there (as Zibby says).

Missing that big-hearted and always curious Natalie, Karen & Tom 

so here we all are in London, Greg, Natalie, Carole and my wife Aubrey.  We are out one night having a blast at a bar when Greg and I notice Natalie is being chatted up by a guy at the bar.  Of course being over bearing brothers we start nosing our way into their conversation and do a bit of gorilla chest beating to let this guy know we are here.  Naturally Natalie is not amusing and irritated that we are bothering her while she is talking to a "cute boy". As the night goes on the "cute boy" in question buys us all drinks and is very friendly.  At one point the guy approaches Greg and I and proceeds to tell us how much he like Natalie and would like to take her out to dinner.  Of course since now he has buttered us up with drinks we say sure no problem, just as long as we keep getting free drinks!  By the end of the night we are all ready to go home and are having a difficult time hailing a cab.  Out walks out the "cute boy" who talks to a guy on the street for one minute and within 30 seconds a black car pulls up in front of us and he says here you go.  As we are on our way home Greg and I are piecing everything together and then jokingly say, "did we just sell Natalie to the Turkish mafia?"  Of course we all laugh, except for Natalie who is even more embarrassed than before!  But just to be safe we had the car drop us off a short distance from our actual place just in case!!!  Then for the rest of the trip Greg and I took every opportunity to raze Natalie about her Turkish mafia boyfriend!  But when I think about it retrospectively one thing comes to mind and that was Natalie's ability to see good in all people and her ability to be so natural and have fun. While Greg and I obviously didn't like this guy Natalie saw him as a nice guy to talk to and another way to have fun in London!

There are so many amazing stories and memories that I have with Natalie, some of them shareable, some of them will remain a secret forever. Though, I think some of my favorite memories of Natalie are of the characters that we created over the years. We both were rather dramatic, loved to act, and had very vivid imaginations, so we would spend hours as these characters, developing every aspect of their lives.

Two of our favorites were Mary Sue and Mary Beth, both middle aged housewives with two children each. Born and raised in Minnesota, they never left the state and never would. They had wonderful, extremely attractive husbands, and didn't have jobs, as they were well taken care of. The two gossiped about the town and argued over monotonous issues. And of course, they had thick Minnesotan accents, don't you know? We would be these characters all day sometimes.

It is a really silly memory, but most of my memories with Natalie are so silly. We had so much fun together and only on occasion would we get sick of each other, which is a huge rarity for me.

I will miss all our adventures, both shared and imagined, Natty Boo!

Natalie and I sat on the couch together, a huge book proudly displayed on her lap. "This is really personal" she said to me, as she gazed confidently into my eyes. "2008 was the year everything changed for me...." and then I interupted her and said "Me too!" I was diagnosed with cancer that year.

Natalie carefully and thoughtfully announced that "EVERYthing changed for both of us in 2008! And we're both healthy now!" We high five'd and she proceeded to give me the grand tour through the book of Natalie. Artwork, photo's, good times, bad times.  She shared it all.


Probably the most intense conversation I've ever experienced.  It was all out there. Love, pain, and brutal honesty. I loved it. We pondered those years for an hour.  Then, with silly, immature laughter, both of us started giggling as we re-lived Sandpoint Junior Miss.  Me, her well-trained beauty pageant coach, and Natalie as the cowboy hat and boot scootin' contestant. What fun the prep was!!  That's the Nat in my mind. I'm holding on to it, tight as can be.   

Most of my memories of Natalie are of her as a very small child. Even then it was easy to see what kind of person she would grow up to be: energetic, creative, highly imaginative, artistic, caring, outgoing, and smart. I remember her building worlds in her room with her dolls and doing classic little girl things like cutting their hair--then deciding it was a good idea to give herself a haircut too. Like DJ said, she had The Little Mermaid on repeat and I'm definitely going to associate that movie with her forever. I spent five years in the army and didn't see my sister the entire time. I regret this enormously, but I am happy to see how much of a gift she was to everybody around her.


I miss you, Nat.  

Everyone talks about Natalie in connection with Disney princesses, but my earliest memory of her precedes my earliest memory of actually meeting her in the flesh. One month at the book group that Doris had recently started, Doris told us how she and the family had gone to a Medieval Times event, at which Natalie was chosen to be the princess of the tournament. Little Natalie was enthralled, and Doris enchanted us all with the memory of that magical evening. Already she was shaping up as a larger-than-life character.

Our age gap was such that Natalie was still very small when I moved to Utah in 1991. I vividly recall, however, her watching The Little Mermaid approximately 700 million times. Needless to say, the target demo for that movie is not 11-year-old boys, so that drove me nuts at the time. Now, I'm glad that there's a movie so strongly associated with her memory.

I didn't truly get to know Nat until after I graduated college. Alex and I had dinner with her in Orange County, I guess in 2005. Although we hadn't really seen each other in years, it was as though there'd been no separation at all. Natalie was such a warm and kind soul that she accepted us immediately as her big brothers, talking openly about her life, even the mistakes, though her memories of us were so distant.

We didn't correspond regularly until she was hospitalized. I was so impressed by her resilience in the face of trials that probably would have broken my will. She had such high standards for herself, though, that I had to constantly remind her how well she was doing. I'm not sure she ever gave herself enough credit for fighting through an ordeal most people couldn't even properly imagine. 

Natalie was always eager to give and to reciprocate. I sent her cool, funky magazines you can find only in big cities; she sent me back collages, cards, and even a birdhouse that resides on my kitchen windowsill. I'm so glad to have these mementos of my vibrant, talented, hilarious sister. I will cherish them until we meet again.

Ask anybody: Natalie was such a romantic.

She said more times than I can count that she was "in love with love." She came to hate Valentine's Day because it could never live up to her expectations (ask Troy about that). She probably started planning her wedding in my womb, and when we moved to Sandpoint, the planning went into high gear.

She decided on her maid of honor (Zibby), her minister (Tom), her musicians (Rob and Amy) and her caterer (Ivano's). We used to joke that the only thing missing was the bridegroom and the exact spot on the waterfront where the celebration would take place.

She never got her wedding, but I'm working on assembling everything but the bridgegroom for the biggest damned celebration of her spirit of romance and everything else on July 18. On the waterfront in Sandpoint, of course.