Day 20 of Gratitude - Nate Perry

31 Days of Gratitude - In an attempt to publicly express my gratitude for the people that have impacted me in some way in 2015, I'm setting out to write one post a day sharing what I appreciate about them or what moment that marked me. Some of these people I know well, some I've only met, and some I'm just getting to know. There is no ranking to these posts and they aren't meant to put anyone on a pedestal. They, like you and I, are imperfect people with their own flaws, some you may have experienced. Despite those flaws, I believe we all need to have our positive characteristics called into light and celebrated. This is that attempt. 

Proof of going beyond. Here his 30min from home at 11p making steaks for a RD's event in a dorm at HU knowing full well he would need to be up at 6am to do it all over again tomorrow. 

The depth of friendship I have with someone like Nate is only reserved for a few people. I'm the kind of guy that only has a handful of deep, long-term friends and with the ups/downs/changes of being a growing adult, they're harder and harder to create. Work, families, distance, and a whole host of factors see these kinds of friendships dwindle every year. This reality is what makes my friendship with Nate so significant. Nate is a few years older than I am and we met in college and even lived together when I was a senior and he was out of school and working at the same school. Ever since then, Nate and I have worked to maintain this friendship and even though we only see each other maybe once a month, we always pick up where we left of with ease. You know this kind of friendship. 

I'm grateful for Nate for a hundred reasons, but the fact our relationship continues to grow is one of the reasons for this post. That fact enough is worth writing a post of gratitude for in my mind. Beyond that, Nate has been one of the best friends "to me" that I can recall. By that I mean, he's genuinely interested in making our friendship work and doing things to develop our relationship. He'll offer to help do things, get together whenever, and check in on how I'm doing. It's as reciprocal of a friendship as I've ever known with other guys. It's a genuine interest in friendship beyond what we can get out of each other. 

Nate is the kind of guy that I want to be around as much as possible. He kind, funny, generous, and will do whatever it takes to be the most responsible person in the room in an effort to ensure everything that needs done, gets done, regardless of whether he knows what to do. He works extremely hard and I admire him for that. I've seen his loyalty benefit dozens of people over the years and I can honestly say that I think many things are held or have been held together because of this loyalty and hard work to do whatever is needed. I see it in his work, friendships, and his family. 

I'm really grateful for Nate and am looking forward to many years to come where we get our kids together to go do father-kid stuff together while our wife's hang out. Now if he didn't live clear across Fort Wayne, we'd hang out more together.