I know I might have written about Nathan Kelsey before. I can't remember how long ago I wrote about his stories, and well, I think I'll just tell his story again.
I first met Nathan when we was a pledge in my fraternity. Idealistic is an understatement. Nathan is an open minded, trusting soul. He had an idea he wanted to host a golf outing as a chapter fund raiser. In my days with Pepsi I had been involved in a large number of golf events so I was pleased he was coming to me for advice.
Now Nathan was a caddie in high school. I grew up close to Olympia Fields Country Club, site of the 2004 US Open and many time host of the Western Open, now the BMW Open. Many of my friends either caddied or worked on the grounds keeping crew, so I totally understood it took a special breed of person to caddie. I mean you need to carry a heavy bag or two for a couple of miles, and constantly listen to old men talk about how good they almost are. So the fact that Nathan caddied told me he was a man of character. This is very true.
Nathan picked my brain for the best course in the area, best practices for a golf outing, and best way to reach and register alums. He set up a terrific event, raising several thousand for the Steve Acheson Scholarship, a fraternity scholarship near and dear to my heart. Perhaps the best thing he did was reach out to Jim Acheson and invite him to the event. This was over 10 years ago and Jim has stayed involved in the chapter largely due to Nathan's invitation.
Nathan and I became fast friends, brothers and golf partners. We both love to play and he loves bending my ear with stories. As you will see, he was a remarkable young man who lives life to the fullest.
Soon after the golf outing our national fraternity had a convention scheduled for New Orleans in the summer of 2006. Nathan wanted to attend the convention, and I was happy to have him ride along. Naturally we planned to stop to play golf on the way to New Orleans and played a few rounds in the Big Easy as well.
I was director of Philanthropy for the national fraternity at the time and had scheduled a community service project with Habitat for Humanity in their musicians village. The build was the day before the convention, so we needed to get there a day early. Nathan told me he had never volunteered for a community service project before. It was about 100 degrees, sun beating down, and here is Nathan working in the framing of the roof on one of the houses. He met the soon to be owner of the house and had lunch with him. Nathan's direction in life literally changed that day.
The convention ended and we were heading home. First we dropped a brother off at the airport and then headed out on the highway destined for Champaign. Nathan was on fire, so charged with the experience of serving others. He was talking about 100 miles a minute. About 3 hours into the drive I asked Nathan if the surrounding looked right? I didn't remember a bridge we were crossing. He said yes and we continued. Shortly thereafter we saw a sign for Beaumont Texas. Opps, we went the wrong way. There are two ways to get to Champaign from Beaumont, drive to Dallas and head north, or return to New Orleans and retrace our path. We chose the New Orleans route. Our 11 hour trip turned into 17 hours and we were both a little fried when we arrived. But...we had an amazing conversation.
When Nathan graduated from college he joined the Peace Corp in Africa. I was not surprised.
A few years ago Nathan married a beautiful physician. In the wedding announcement she mentioned she was attracted to Nathan because of his time in the Peace Corp. I thought, you owe me brother! If I hadn't taken you to New Orleans, you would have never planted the seeds for his servant heart, and he would have missed out on the wonderful wife.
We still get together occasionally to play golf. And he lives in one of my favorite cities in America, Boston.
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