Nathan’s Story

Nathan’s story is one I share pieces of every day and his story is one of a boy and a young man that knew how to live life and knew the meaning of hard work and sacrifice and perseverance.

His life ended in a very tragic and ordinary way but his life was far from ordinary.

All of his friends knew Nathan as a powerful, gifted athlete but he was not always that way.

Nathan Hergenhan

Read about nate in the Hudson-Litchfield News

The Early Years

Nathan was born July 24^th, 1990 in Houston, Texas and I remember the minute he was born he was very red and stayed red for a couple weeks before he started turning a few shades lighter. He was a happy baby but did not ever sleep well and within a couple months after he was born he started having ear infections. His ear infections continued until he had tubes put in his ears when he was 2 years old. We used to call Nathan the “sleepless wonder” because he was 2 years old before he slept thru the night and even as a very small baby he never took naps.

Nathan was always a very cute boy and gentle hearted with the exception of his rough housing with his brother Jay. He was always very calm mannered and pleasant to be around and he was shy but still confident. When Nathan went to school he realized that his classmates and teachers could not understand him well and it frustrated him to the point where he actually asked if he could “get help with talking”. Nathan’s mother and I had become used to his speech and understood everything he said so we were basically unaware that he had a real speech problem.

In a matter of months he speech became more and more “normal” and he clearly appreciated being able to communicate with his friends and teachers. This is one of many examples of how Nathan continually recognized problems and took action to take them on head on.

Nathan was always an excellent student but as early as 3 years old I remember seeing a true love of sports in him. We used to watch Football, basketball and baseball together and I remember when Jay played soccer for the first time Nathan had to be held back from running on the field to play. The team made Nathan the mascot but he never stopped wanting to be out on the field playing.

Sports Career Begins

Nathan’s first try at sports came when he was in 3^rd grade when he played basketball. He was shy and he had trouble overcoming the shyness to let his ability show thru and it wasn’t until the playoffs that year at the end of the season that his skilled became apparent. I remember halfway through a game that they were losing shy little Nathan took over the game. He developed this alter ego that we jokingly called “Spike” and he used the sweat from his hard work on the court to spike his hair up in a Mohawk… he looked ridiculous but this somehow allowed he to come out of his shell.

Nate

For the next couple years he played basketball and football and while he was a very good basketball player he was not great at football and he got lost on an excellent team that won a championship even though Nathan had nothing to do with their success.

In the fall of 2001 Nathan moved to New Hampshire with his mother and Jay. I was glad to see Nathan get involved in sports right away although he shared with me that in his new surrounding with all the new faces he was nervous to the point that it made him physically ill. His shyness resurfaced and his talent and ability was having trouble shining through again. The first year was difficult as I had to remain in Houston for a few months but would make trips up for weekends or sometimes longer. Nathan played on an AAU team that year and spent virtually the whole season on the bench. As a father I was concerned that a season on the bench would be the type of thing that could break a boy’s spirit but Nathan constantly showed me that his character was resilient and he took failures as a form of motivation. Nathan worked hard to make sure that even at his shyest moments his talent would be able to shine through and he played Recreation basketball, all star basketball and AAU basketball and he also played Pop Warner football the next season on a team with his brother Jay. Even though they were three years apart, they were able to play for the same team, since it was the weight class that determined their eligibility. While I saw Jay improve his football skill that year, Nathan still didn’t really do too much on the football field although there was a coach (Randy) that would be an ongoing influence on Nathan. This man earned Nathan’s respect by being the best coach he had ever had to that point but Nathan also told me it was the coaches character that he was so impressed by… this was one of many examples of Nathan recognizing men that he looked up to as role models and I was constantly amazed when he did this.

Nathan continued to do well in school and had a good number of friends some of whom remained his close friends until his death. His success playing basketball was impressive to me and he continued to play as much as possible between AAU, Rec. and Rec. All Star he was playing a lot.

He had another huge setback at Memorial in 7^th grade when he failed to make the school team. As a father it was painful to see my son who had so much talent not be able to show it to coaches when he need to at a tryout. Nathan was upset and he was hurt and dejected although he refused to show it. As a consolation he was offered the team manager position but it actually made it even more painful to be so close to all of his friends and not being on the court that he loved so much. Once again Nathan turned what could be a blow to his self confidence into something that motivated him to be a better player and when the 8^th grade tryouts came about the next year I think the coach put him on the team without any question in his mind. I remember Nathan telling me that he would be the strongest fastest best player from now on to be sure he never missed another team.

I had the pleasure of coaching Nathan at a few different stages in his development age 10, 12, 13 and 14 and have never seen another boy that loved competing more than Nathan. He was excited before any competition and he was so focused during a game and he reveled in recounting the game afterwards. His first love was basketball.

High School

Nathan’s Freshmen year at Alvirne was a whole new experience for him, the freshmen team was undefeated and there were games that year that I was almost embarrassed to watch because our boys were so far superior to the competition and although Nathan was playing very well it was clear that this team was strong because the boys had matured together and played true team basketball. The season ended with a heartbreaking loss in the playoffs when one of Nathan’s best friends missed a layup to end the game in a 1 point loss. I knew that Nathan would comfort his friend and remind him that it was only a game and later learned that he did even more giving Max a big bear hug and trying to make him laugh on the long bus ride home. Nathan loved to win but he loved his friends more.

Nate and Ally

This year was also Nate’s return to football and he started telling me about a man that they all call “Nibs” and it was clear by what I was hearing that Nathan had found another role model. Nate had never had even the slightest success in football but this year would be different with the teaching of a very knowledgeable coaching staff at Alvirne. His freshmen year proved to him that football was another sport at which he could excel and he would.

Incidentally, Nathan also ran track and, as a side note, I recall a conversation with Nathan where he shared with me that his first quarter of his freshmen year (a year that he played 3 sports) he was staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning completing his homework and the pressure was getting to be too much for him. His report card was straight A’s his first quarter and he was worried that he could not maintain that. He was asking for my advice and as was frequently the case with Nathan I knew the answer was somewhere within him. As I recall our conversation I asked him what he thought he should do and it seems to me he came up with a Clint Eastwood quote, “A man has got to know his limitations”. I remember thinking; this boy has never seen a Clint Eastwood movie! As frequently was the case with my talks with Nathan we laughed and talked and in the end he had made the decision that he may have to lower his standards a little bit. The result was that Nathan’s report cards starting showing some B’s mixed in with his A’s and in Spanish he even received C’s. The decision was his and he felt it was the right decision.

Nathan was now Nate and his success continued into his sophomore year as the same group of boys dominated in basketball and although the football team did poorly in the win loss category, Nathan had become a powerful productive running back and it was clear the team was improving and building for future years. The Thanksgiving game in Tynsborough that year showed me and (I assume) the coaches that the next year this team would be a force to be reckoned with.

The summer between Nate’s Sophomore and Junior Year He had become a man. He was strong and confident and fast and graceful. He had worked harder than ever and you knew when you were near him that you were in the presence of a young man that was driven and you could not help respecting him as a man.

Final Days

On Nate’s 16^th birthday (as shared by coach Nibs at Nate’s funeral) Nathan went into the weight room after a full day and put in a long hard workout, as Coach would walk through the weight room he noticed Nate’s persistence and drive and also noted the time and effort Nate gave and what was not shared at the funeral, because most of what Nathan did went unnoticed, was that Nate then went home called his dad, took a shower and met me for a birthday dinner… his day had started early and would have left most men I know completely exhausted but Nathan would share a late dinner with me and showed me his new car and shared stories of the last few days since I had seen him last and as always was the case Nate embraced me as we said good bye.

Nate

I was lucky enough to spend the upcoming weekend with this remarkable young man as well before his life was taken 6 days after he turned 16.

What Nathan would have become will never be known, but what he had become was a young man that understood what it was to be a man.

Nate’s Race

Nathan’s Story

The Early Years

Sports Career Begins

High School

Final Days

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