Nathan Robert JarosyJuly 18, 1974 — December 24, 2020
Celebration of His Life + March 28, 2021

I want to thank each and every one of you for being here today to remember and celebrate the life of a wonderful, wonderful man — a loving son, brother, step- father, uncle, a great friend, a talented co-worker . . . the love of my life . . . Nate. 

The most important things in Nate’s life were his family and his friends, and today his family and friends — all of you — are here to remember and celebrate him, thankful that he was in our lives with his joy and his laughter, his love for life, his love for all of us.Nate was with us for forty-six years.  Forty-six years doesn’t seem like such a long time, a blink of an eye really, but a lot can happen in forty-six years. A lot of love, a lot of pain and broken-ness, and a lot of joy too, and in Nate's case a whole lot of  fun and laughter!  While I am grateful for each of those days, there were not enough of them.  Through his illness Nate fought hard to stay with us, so that he could love us and we love him. But that was not to be, and so today we are together to remember him, and to be grateful for what he brought to each of us. 

 I remember like it was yesterday the day I started to fall in love with Nate.  We had known each other years before, but one day about twelve years ago Carrie Curry invited me to a party at her house, and she invited Nate to come too, and 9 kids.  Neither one of us were looking for a relationship at the time, but with the help of a Silly String fight in the garage and a leap of faith, our story began to unfold.  

Soon Nate became to me everything I had could imagine in a life’s partner, and more.  And so nine years ago today, at Fort Walton Beach, Nate and I, Casey, Ryan and Emma became a family.I always told Nate that when he fell in love with me, I was in a time when I felt my very worst, when I felt I was unlovable.  And when I was at my absolute lowest, he made me feel so wanted, and so beautiful. He supported me in anything I wanted to do, anywhere I wanted to go. He was constantly surprising me with gifts, or doing things for me, always taking care of me and the kids. Nate did so much. He really loved with all his heart. 

When I look at pictures of us I can just see the love radiating from his eyes!  He was my friend, my lover, my partner all wrapped up in one.  He lived to make me happy.  And he meant the world to me. I loved that he not only courted me, but also Casey, Ryan, and Emma who  were just seven, five, and four when Nate came into our lives.  How Nate loved them!  And they loved him back.  He was such a fun Dad!  With his quick wit he could be silly, and could always make you laugh.   Not long ago at Christmas he dressed up in a Frosty costume and bought us all “animal” pjs!  He loved to play pranks on us and loved planning them out.  Sometimes it was a fake mouse on the carpet, and sometimes a fake spider, just to try to scare us, and make us laugh. 

And Nate loved planning little family getaways too for us to have fun as a family.Birthdays were always a cause for special celebration in our house!  Nate would plan it out with so much thought, and work hard to find just the right gift.  He would always find a way to make each celebration special, whether it be with confetti bombs, or balloons, or a special cake or just the right gift.Nate showed his love to us by all the thought and care he put into everything he did.

Every gift he bought for someone — for me, or the kids — he really looked into it and thought about what he wanted to give them.  Everything he got me, I knew it was something he really put effort into, and that made it even more special. He was the same way with planning trips or when we’d have a project to do around the house, sometimes becoming annoying.  He was an amazing person. He always put my needs and needs of the kids above his.  He truly loved with all his heart. Nate loved life!

Nate was a talented and hard-working man.  He had worked to pay his own way earning his degree at Milliken University.   And at Triad as a valued part of their team, he enjoyed doing new work, and he was proud of being a leader in his department.  Nate loved working with computers, and could do about anything with electronics.  But Nate loved lots of things in life .
. . Nate loved the Cubs, of course!  And when his beloved Cubbies won the World Series in 2016, it was truly a day to celebrate in Nate’s household!  I remember staying up to watch the game with him. Even though it had a rain delay, we watched every moment.

He loved anything with the color Blue!And Nate loved the Bears . . .the blackhawks, and Fighting Illini. And cooking — He spoiled me with doing all the cooking and making his Cheesecake which was his specialty . . .and my favorite And eating out and trying new restaurants and some old favorites, the melting pot and red lobster—some of his favorite foods were steak, shrimp, crab cakes from Maryland, pasta, sushi . . . 

Another thing Nate and I together loved doing was celebrating New Year’s Eve!  That was one of the nights we would celebrate without fail! Nate would book a hotel room, and we’d get all dressed up to go out with friends – Dave and Chris in the early years, and then after we were married with Monica and Darrin.  It was a night we both looked forward to —  letting loose, hanging with friends, just being together and having fun. I will miss dancing with him as the clock struck midnight and sharing that first kiss of the New Year.

Nate loved the 4th of July — last year he built a special launcher, and ended up in a competition with our neighbors on who could set off the most fireworks.

What else did he love?   He loved to travel:  Destin, Florida, was our favorite vacation spot —  we also went to many other places around the country, visiting family and friends, trying new things and having new adventures.  So many wonderful places we went, and so many wonderful times we had as a family! Then too Nate and I had many a getaway weekend together, going to places like Port Washington just last year for my birthday.

Nate loved other things too:  A favorite past time was going to the movies, we’d always alternate between movies I’d like and ones he liked…secretly, I knew he liked those rom coms too. we’d spend many nights sitting in the living room watching different shows from NCIS to Below Deck to Lifetime movies, which I just know was HIS favorite. 

We can’t forget his favorite movie Star Wars . . .  Building his race car . . . old music videos — the cornier the better, he never passed up the chance to blast those videos in our living room!  And doing home improvement projects, like our patios and fire pit he built with Ryan. The loft bed he built for Casey, or our front garden area that he loved. I don’t think there was anything Nate couldn’t do. He always found a way to make things happen. 

There’s something else Nate loved . . . His puppies!  Nate lived for his family, but part of that family — of course!  — were Popsicle and Parker!  He loved them immensely. He enjoyed taking them to the field to run around and he liked taking them for car rides.  A favorite saying of Nate’s was “Two hands!”  When I would come home with my arms loaded with things Nate would say, “Two hands!  You need two hands to love on the puppies!”  Nate loved on those puppies!

But mostly Nate loved on us, his family and his friends. He was a giver.  He took pleasure in making others happy. Nate was always willing to help out, he cared about those around him.  He was fun and he was caring.  He MAY have been a wee bit strong willed at times . . . But he was always a lover. 

Two years ago when I had breast cancer he showed me again how deeply he could love.  He became my caregiver, and because of his patient and tender care I made it through. He put my needs above his, and took care of me then just as he always took care of us.

Before I met Nate, I had never gotten flowers on Valentine’s Day.  When Nate learned that, he made sure that changed!  Every year, he would pick out a beautiful bouquet of flowers – different flowers every year — and I loved seeing what he picked out.  I said earlier how much care he took choosing gifts for loved ones; he gave the same care to picking out cards. Not just any card would do!  As I look at those cards now I remember how much thought and love he put into every one.Our twelve years together went all too fast, and were all too short. 

Neither of us had thought we would marry again, but Nate and I were lucky to have a second chance at love.  As all couples do, we had our ups and downs, but we worked things out together.   Nate and I loved each other fully and truly.  And I am truly grateful for each day we had.

Music meant a lot to us, I would like to end by sharing one of our favorite songs. There You’ll Be by Faith Hill.