Nathan Wendt

Madison Local Schools - K-6 -Christmas Celebration - 2009. Nathan Wendt (2nd grade) in shades, khaki shorts, and some Hawaiian looking shirt.

This was perhaps the 15th of 18 songs the kids did. The entire show was great.

This is the 2nd grade class performing to Little St. Nick by the Beach Boys… with a parachute of course.

A week before Christmas this year Nathan and I made a trip to see my father who lives in Hardin, Kentucky. It was just a three-day-weekend sort of trip, but Hardin is about a six hour drive from our home in Middletown Ohio, so like most people are doing these days, we worked that visit and our stop at the Patton Museum in with a necessary trip that had us going south that same weekend.

Leaving home around 7:00 a.m., we headed south to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) in order to get my wife on a plane bound for Corpus Christi, Tx. Her plane was leaving at 10:00 a.m. and due to some pretty nasty rain and the Friday rush hour traffic the 40 mile trip took close to 90 minutes. Thankfully, the weather cleared up shortly after we left CVG and the remainder of the trip was made in windy but otherwise respectable weather. One interesting thing to note was that when we left the house that morning the temperature was 38 degrees. Within 4 hours the temperature had reached 68 degrees. It was truly like driving to another climate.

The trip to Hardin, Ky. from Middletown Oh. takes us right down I65 and past an exit for the Patton Museum located near Ft. Knox. From the airport to the museum was about three and a half hour drive so we arrived in town during the lunch hour. More traffic. The Patton Museum was little changed since our last visit two years earlier. There were, I think, about two new tanks on display and the gift shop appeared a lot larger than I remembered. The trip through the museum took about an hour with Nate being especially fascinated with a few battlefield dioramas they had on display. After some coaxing, he also enjoyed the Abrahams M1 exhibit where you can actually get in a tank simulator. (Non-operational but still fascinating)

My personal favorite was a WWII German King Tiger whose left hand side had been opened up and its armor replaced with plexiglass. The size of the King Tiger was in itself amazing but to see inside was to get a real glimpse at what life in a tank must have been like. I could only wonder what sort of world this might have been had the Germans had been able to produce these amazing machines in greater numbers.

Also, I enjoyed seeing Patton’s Colt .45 Model 1873 Single Action Revolver which is on display at the museum. It was interesting to read about Patton in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm where he was in the first-ever modern pentathlon. The display at the museum also touched on his Olympic Pistol shooting controversy.

As we were not pressed for time, and it was just the two of us, I gave the ok to actually do the whole thing again. With just the two of us I figured, why not. What I should have figured on though was the amount of time he would want to spend in the gift shop.

The gift shop was actually three rooms full of books, posters, clothing, collectibles, and die-cast army toys. Not that I have anything against die-cast army toys, and this was the largest collection I had ever seen in one place in my life, but over half of these toys, 1/32 scale tanks and military vehicles, were selling for $60 each. Unfortunately, I had to explain to Nate that these toys were out of our budget. Although he understood this, each toy still had to be looked at, and each one questioned to make sure he was not mistaken in his belief that we were not going to spend that much money.

Lucky for me there was a good number of the 1/32 scale toys from a manufacturer that were “only” selling for $30 something each. (Still about $10 over-priced) So after about 40 minutes of shopping we left with a nice German 88mm flack gun and crew.

By 3:00 p.m. were on the road again and shortly after nightfall we arrived at my dad’s house in Hardin. Overall the trip was very nice and it was great to see dad before Christmas. I expect we will be back when the threat of bad weather has passed and with any luck we will again be making a stop at the Patton Museum.

I was very glad to find these little 15 second videos the other day. Still not sure what camera they came from. This is a quick look around Nathans first bedroom at the old house on Fielders Way in Middletown, Ohio. That was a nice room and a nice house. Good times. More to follow!

Cub Scout Pack 28 in Madison Township of Butler County Ohio had their monthly pack meeting last night (12/15/2008) at the Madison Primary School where my son Nathan Wendt received his Bobcat badge in a traditional “turn the scout upside down” ceremony.

Last night Nathan and I were on our way back from a Cub Scout meeting at the Riverview Baptist Church in Franklin, Ohio when I received a page from Nate’s mom.  As my phone was still on a silent setting from the Cub Scout meeting the page went unnoticed. In the car on the way home Nate and I were chatting about the meeting and how proud I was of him for having memorized his Cub Scout promise and motto. It truly was a joy to be there with Nate and his good manners and behavior were in my opinion a testament to the character of the entire family whose values have been passed down generation after generation.

When we arrived home Nate, as is his tradition, hid his Cub Scouts leaf collecting project behind his back as he walked in the door. As he always likes to surprise mom with everything he has. Mom gave the usual sighs of approval but it was instantly noticeable that something was wrong. Knowing mom had just gotten off the treadmill I had for a second hoped that I was mistaken.  Perhaps I thought mom was just perspiring and tired from the exercise.  But a look right into her eyes told me otherwise.

With Nate standing there with his leaf project still in hand I asked what was wrong, and the reply and the tears came very quickly. Nate’s Great Grandmother, Wanda Marie Wells at age 84, had passed away only moments earlier.

I gave mom a big hug and what was only seconds felt like an eternity of sadness.  Agreeing between ourselves as we broke the hug that Grandma was in a much better place we turned around to see Nate standing there watching us. With tears in his eyes he hung his head the moment we looked his way. He then ran right over and gave mom a big hug.

Mom did her best to explain that Grandma was with Jesus now and that we would see her again in Heaven. As Nate was well aware Grandma had not been well for month’s and mom’s explanation about how it was the natural order of things that our bodies grow old and wear out was easily accepted.  In this case that was certainly true. Grandma had suffered for a long time from COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and as Nate and I were on our way home from Cub Scouts, while napping at home on her couch she fell into an eternal sleep that called her home.

This is the first loss in the family that Nate has been exposed to. I hope we have done the right things so far to prepare him for this day, and or to whatever extent possible, ease the pain of the loss. Within minutes of our return to the house mom was off to be with her Grandfather and parents. While I got Nate ready for bed I asked if he had any questions and as expected he said no. I explained again that Grandma was with Jesus now and not suffering any more. I explained that she was no longer stuck in that old body, but free of pain and in a heavenly body that would never wear out. Nate promised he understood but I cannot help but feel guilty for not having had Nate more involved with the Church even at this young age, because it is there, along with guidance from ones family, where lifelong beliefs on the fundamentals of faith are learned.

I know the next time I put Nate to bed and we say our prayers, that even his simple prayer of “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray The Lord my soul to keep, and should I die before I wake, I pray The Lord my soul to take.” will have an even greater meaning to both of us.

Time to admit our little boy is not so little anymore. In fact yesterday was his 7th birthday. I tell him all the time that it seems like just a few days ago that he was wobbling around the room just learning to walk and needing his diaper changed a dozen times a day. Now of course the big accomplishments are a lot different. From good manners to good reading skills our expectations change with each passing year.

The birthday party was great fun and filled with lots of happy shouts from the birthday boy as he unwrapped present after present. I think the big hit this year was a Star Wars Lego kit from his Grandma and Grandpa French. The kit was so big it included two very lengthy assembly guides and I would imagine it will take several days to put together. Of course Nate could not wait to get started.

One funny gift unwrapping scene concurred with a computer game I gave Nate. The tile of the game was “Theatre of War”. When Nate opened it the graphics on the box were enough to make him smile and proclaim his approval with the cry of “Cool!”. However when he read that title nothing even close to the word “Theatre” came out of his mouth. After hearing this 10 year old cousin asked “What’s in there?”, and Nate responded with a shrug, to which the cousin suggested “Well I bet it’s full of a whole bunch of war”. This made them both happy.

After some great cake and ice cream Nate was asked to take his now traditional stand in front of his bedroom door to have his height marked. He had grown another three inches since last year. Even this prompted the memory of how it just seemed like days ago when the poor little fellow had no legs at all and 75% of his little body was upper torso. Now our little boy is a well proportioned “long legged galoot”. To be exact on his 7th birthday the “little guy” is a ginormious 4 foot and 4-1/2 inches tall.

Happy birthday buddy – We love you so much!

Like a lot of kids in Ohio these days my son Nathan Wendt was born into a world of high technology. So I thought using technology, like this Blog, to document his life and times was an interesting modern alternative to the old fashioned scrapbook.

While our working subtitle for the Blog is “Growing up in Ohio” I do hope to talk about the activities and issues that face all young people throughout our country and of course focus on those involving Ohio and my son Nathan Wendt.