by Stacey Paretti Rase

There is usually one story in every issue of IN that takes me by surprise. I’m surprised that some stories ever take flight, and surprised when others don’t. And then, there is the surprising story whose message hits home in a way that seems as if fate somehow had a hand in its words reaching my desk.

This issue’s feature on Louie Nugent is one such story. The day after Louie was laid to rest, one of our writers contacted me to say that we “had to share his life with our readers.” I wasn’t convinced. Yet, I obliged because the writer was so passionate about the idea. The result? A touching account of a man who never took life at face value, even before he was given a cancer death sentence. He played by his own rules, even if it meant making up those rules as he went along. He identified what mattered most in his life and threw himself whole-heartedly into each endeavor. I came to admire this man I never knew, and resolved to apply some of his “grab life by the horns” philosophy to my life immediately.

In a strange twist of events, the same week this issue shipped to the printer, my family buried my grandfather. He was 80 years old. Over the years, diabetes had taken his two legs and robbed him of his eyesight. But, like Louie, he was fighting a good fight. He used prosthetic legs to hobble around and never once complained about his condition. In fact, being a very short man, he liked to joke that his fake legs could even be a blessing—if his doctors would simply fashion them a bit longer than his old legs! One of my fondest memories of Paw is of him crawling around in his garden, pulling himself along with his strong arms to plant seeds. He had a smile on his face.

My Paw Paw was not a social butterfly like Louie. In fact, in his retired years, he spent all of his time with a very small circle of people: his kids, grandkids, great-grandkids—and his wife of 62 years. I feel fortunate to have been a part of his life. And, just like those who feel the need to share Louie’s story with others, I now have a great story to pass down, as well. It’s the story of a man who communicated big things in small ways. A man who exemplified resiliency, without ever alluding to the fact that he was even vulnerable.

Congratulations to Covington’s Patricia Reno, the winner of last issue’s Word Search!