Nathan had just turned twelve...
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Nathan had just turned twelve when he died of a brain hemorrhage. He had gone to bed early the night before because he had a bad headache. His mother checked him several times throughout the night, and he seemed fine. However, when his twin sister Nancy went to wake him up for school, she found him dead. Nancy stayed home from school that first day. The next day she wanted to go back to school, and so her parents allowed her to go. She put on Nathan's baseball jacket and hat and away she went. "She's in shock," everybody said. "When she goes to the funeral home tonight, she'll start to understand what has happened." But being at the funeral home did nothing to change Nancy's behavior. She continued to wear Nathan's baseball coat and hat, and she continued to act as if nothing was wrong. It wasn't until Nancy said to me, "We'd better bring Nathan home soon. He's going to be really scared if he wakes up in that box and there's no one here to help him get out of it," that I realized that she did not understand what death meant. I mentally said a quick prayer, asking God to give me the right words to tell Nancy about death and resurrection, took a deep breath, and began to tell the gospel story.
-- Conroy
-- Conroy
