This is a picture of me and my friend Natalie Ann Beardsley. I am on the right. She is on the left. This picture was taken April 21, 1999 at the historic Hornby School and Museum. Our little group of homeschool families went there for our own Little House on the Prairie type reenactment. We ate our lunch from tin pails and cloth sacks, played marbles on the hard wood floor, had a spelling bee, all while wearing period clothing.

This Thursday is July 14. It is Natalie's birthday. She would have been 20 years old.

Two years ago this September, Natalie died in a car accident.

Earlier in the week, I was looking at my increasingly busy schedule for the month, and I noticed her name in the space of July 14. I thought, "Oh! I have to remember to send Nat a birthday card before I leave for Chicago!!"

Tears sprung to my eyes when I came back to reality. No one has yet figured out how to send letters to Heaven.

So regardless of how busy I think I am, I am taking a few moments to remember a beautiful young woman, whom God wanted in Heaven before the rest of us.

I love you and miss you Natalie.

The following is a poem I wrote about a week after Natalie's promotion to glory. I never could publish it before, but it feels right now.

Natalie

So many words that I could say
So many thoughts in so many ways
Yet none express just how I feel
Sitting here wishing this wasn’t real
Can I pour out my heart? Would you understand?
Can you hear me now? Can you hold my hand?
I wish that I could put my arms around you once more?
Though my heart is aching, I know for sure
That you are praising God where I wish most to be
While you’re dancing, won’t you save a dance for me?
My dear sweet friend, I’ll be there in time
Though I know for you, ‘twill be the blink of an eye
If only all my wishes could come true
Then I’d wish to say that I love you
Like I never did before
But now I mean it so much more
Life’s not the same without you here, though we wouldn’t wish you back
For now you are fulfilled in everything that we now lack
There’s no real way to say what’s in my heart
Dear girl, you will live on though we’re apart


Hannah McMichael
September 28, 2009

To Natalie Beardsley (1991-2009)