Nate the Great

To most, he looks like an ordinary man but to our family, he saved the day or in this case, days. I am not the mushy gushy type but this story needs to be told.

The Plan...

We have not gotten away by ourselves since before my dad was diagnosed in December 2008 and even then we can't remember when that was. We really needed a night away to refresh and regroup.

The St. Olaf Choir was scheduled to be perform at Trinity Christian College on Friday, February 12, 2010. Nate proclaims that they are the best collegiate choir around and has desperately wanted to hear them in concert. I can't emphasize enough how much he had his heart set on this. It was a big deal. When he knew they were going to be in Chicago, he immediately started pursuing me to agree to go. He purchased the tickets, babysitting was in place thanks to grandparents and we were going to be headed to Chicago for our night away. I was going to be in IKEA heaven and on a Portillo's high. Bliss.

What Really Happened...

Thursday night, February 11, 2010. I felt incredibly tired, had no appetite and decided I needed to go to bed early and rest up. We were on routine as usual. Nate bathed and put the kids to bed. Right after he put The Pip to bed, I felt a stirring in the pit of my stomach that led me to the bathroom. I quickly became very sick, the kind of sick where it flies out both ends. Nate the Great came rushing to my side. The rest was a blur of fever, chills, moaning and violent bodily fluid evacuation. He got up with me each time I headed to the bathroom until my body finally settled down early Friday afternoon and that was MANY times. He headed out in the night to pick up a prescription to quiet my nausea and help me sleep.

As if that chaos wasn't enough, Little Mister started in with a croupy cough in the middle of the night and Nate the Great saved the night again by getting up with him, in the midst of caring for me, and took him outside for some cold night air to help calm down the coughing.

He took over all the responsibilities in the house, including caring for me, all of Friday and Saturday.

It became clear that he was going to have to give up the dream of watching the choir sing, at least for this time. The hope of getting away was replaced by survival.

He amazed me Thursday, Friday and Saturday by not once complaining about the loss of something very special and important.

Thank you, my dear husband, for saving the day and for sacrificing to meet our needs. We, The Wife, The Pip, Little Mister and Big V, love you very much. You are our hero.

A big thank you to Grandpa Larry for bringing me jello and popcicles. Another thank you to Sue for rescuing us once again.

St. Olaf Choir
www.stolaf.edu/music/stolaf_choir/about.html