This picture is of my son, Nathan Kyle, as we celebrated my retirement from court reporting in the circuit courts and New Year’s Eve. It was the night before my daughter was killed in a truck wreck on January 1, 2022. The night before my granddaughter was severely injured in that wreck and spent several weeks in Riley Hospital in Indianapolis, IN. It was a special night of love and celebration.

Nate had only gotten out of prison, a place he spent many years due to his drug addiction, the week before. We were all thrilled for him to be there, especially his sister. 

He was home for Christmas; he was home for our special celebration; he was home.

The year rolled around and he struggled with his addiction. Keely’s death, his only sister as well as a friend, along with the death of his friend and cousin, Mike, in March, hit him hard and his struggle with drugs began to beat him. He was losing the battle. Again. He and I fought that summer after Keely and Mike died and even quit talking for a bit. His sweet girlfriend, Ashley, stepped in and did some magic that got him going on a little better path. He was happier and had a goal: to marry Ashley; to take care of her and her son; to make her daughters and parents like him. After all, he did have a reputation, so his work was cut out for him in that area. And he worked hard to achieve that goal.

He also continued to use marijuana; then sell it. But he was still happier than he had ever been, and I held out hope that he would make it this time; that he was away from the hard drugs.

On February 15, 2023, someone shot Natey in the back of the leg and left him to bleed to death in the ditch just across the street from where he was living. The bullet hit his femoral artery. Almost before Natey even realized he had been shot, he was dead. The police and the emergency personnel were there within three minutes. Or less.

My heart is crushed, still, even though it has now been over a year. But as the poem reads, “and life went on. It was not the same, but it went on,” (sorry, I don’t know the author) and I am going on. Different, not the same, but step by step going on.

“Nathan Kyle Dobbs, born August 3, 1977, left this earthly body on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, to be united in Heaven with those who went before him.  The reunion in the presence of Jesus the Christ has to be phenomenal!  Left to mourn and miss him is Ashley, the great love of his life, the reason he lived, his gift from God.   He will be greatly missed by his aunts and uncles and cousins and friends.  Nate had a huge heart with a smile and hello or a helping hand for everyone.  He was a hard worker wherever he worked.  He was full of fun and laughter and silly exploits. His great delight was in making others smile, bringing some joy and positivity and sunshine to their day, despite his struggles.  His desire was to become a man who could find his way to walk daily with the Jesus who gave him hope; to become a man that could make his family happy and complete; to become better than he had ever been in his struggles and fight against addiction; to let all his awesome love and goodness shine as brightly as God had always planned for him.  He was sunshine; meant to light up the world.” 

And, oh, how we miss him.