At the beginning of the year before I became interested and things evolved with Nate I had been praying to know what the Lord would want me to do when I finished my classes at The Institute of Healing Arts.
Moments after I had gotten off my knees about this I received a phone call from my brother Dustin who lived in southern Florida. He had 3 children at the time and he and his wife both worked full time. They would save money by hiring a nanny instead of paying for day care. They wanted to know if I was interested in the job, starting right after my graduation.
It was the timing of it that made me figure, maybe this was what the Lord wanted? So I said yes and I felt good about the decision. My evolving relationship with Nate didn't change my mind about this. I figured that he would be going out to serve a mission for the church soon and we would be separated for two years anyway... But it didn't make saying goodbye any easier.
I had found a new home for my 3 year old Australian Shepherd named Panda for his black and white coloring and gentle nature. He had been a really good dog, I had trained him to do lots of fun stuff, but Dustin and Lisa didn't have room for another. My car was all packed to drive out to Florida the night of my graduation, my dad being my copilot. That morning before the graduation ceremonies I went to have my last day with Nate. I was a mess. I kept crying. I knew I'd see him again but I didn't know how long it would be. I would miss him horribly and there was still a small part of me that doubted... If I didn't see him and he didn't see me, would he forget his feelings for me? Would he decide not to wait?
Nate hugged me and wiped my tears and tried to reassure me. He told me he had a couple things for me and I was surprised, I hear a lot of girls complain that guys just don't think of getting things... I had something for him too, so we exchanged gifts.
For me he had a Jade pendant. I call it a pendant but it actually looked rather like a life saver candy... I love it. And Nate loved that I got so happy about it because it was something special he had gotten on a trip to China when his family adopted one of his younger siblings. He had had several of them that he had given away to dear friends but none of them seemed to appreciate it as much as I did.
For him I had purchased a goth style butterfly key chain. I figured it was as manly as I could get with butterflies but I wanted him to have a reminder of me that he could carry around. He liked it so much he took it off the key chain and wore it on a necklace.
I became a mess again as it came time to leave his house. I was holding him tightly and sobbing and he pulled out something else he told me to keep. It was a handkerchief he had received at the Mount Timpanogas Temple dedication. It had a stitching of the temple in it's soft white fabric. In that moment I knew that was the temple we would one day be sealed in.
Nate also handed me an envelope that he told me I was not allowed to open until I was on the road to Florida. I could hardly wait!
The graduation ceremonies were sad and happy. We had all grown close and now we were done. It was hard to say what all our relationships would be like after that. We all wanted to remain close friends but life was pulling us all in different directions. There were many tears and good speeches about what we had learned and where we were headed and then it was over.
I got in the car with my dad and as we drove away I tore open the envelope from Nate. I got all weepy again as I read his words to me of the way he felt about us and our future. I read the letter out loud to my dad. My dad even got weepy and said, "If I were to choose someone for you, that would be the kind of guy!"
Not that I was ever the kind that NEEDED to have my father's approval of the man I would marry, I was glad all the same that he could see the kind of wonderful I had found.
