N is for Nayt
Jul 27th, 2010 by Jes

There’s no need for any other words starting with “n” here, cause this post will be all about Nayt.
As I’m typing this, my husband is getting on his bike to ride home from Best Buy in Tri-County with a copy of Starcraft 2…I think that’s a great way to start a paragraph about my husband. It says so much.
Since I’ve been with Nayt, I’ve learned that boys like to play games as a way to bond with each other. I’ve learned that boys can be cat people. I’ve learned that a pitcher of cold iced tea and a piece of cheesecake can be considered “dinner.”
I’ve learned that a long bike ride while listening to podcasts on tech toys will give him the space to let his mind breathe. I’ve learned that he holds his stress in his back and shoulders. I’ve learned that he will mow the lawn even though he’s allergic to grass. I’ve learned that adventure is important: even if it’s fulfilled in video games, tv shows or geocaching. I’ve learned that Nayt worships by serving. I’ve learned that boys can’t help it if their farts are stinky…after all, who made the chili have beans in it? That would be me!
Nayt is a boy. Therefore, becoming friends with him was weird for me. I speak girl pretty fluently, I think. Well, a certain dialect of girl: artsy, feminine and silly. Nayt speaks boy, but a certain dialect of boy: techie, sarcastic and silly. It’s sometimes hard to translate what he’s saying into something I can process in my girly brain. But man is it worth the effort. Sometimes on a ride home from work, Nayt will just gush about a random article he read or installing network cables and the jargon is like, “huh? what does THAT mean?” But he’s just speaking Nayt. Adjust your tuning dial and you’ll get him in strong.
He’s pretty good at translating Jes. He can tell when I need space, or when to turn on Over the Rhine when I request “any tunes.” He knows why a craft room is important. He thanks me when I make his favorite foods. He gives me long hugs. He makes me laugh. He takes me to UDF when I need an orange freeze.
He plays with our cat. He watches foreign movies with me. He sits through ballets and then asks me questions about it after. He talks to me about important things like church politics, the fundamentals in religion, physics and science in relation to philosophy and religion, what he’s learning about Scripture, hurdles in communication between humans…he’s a walking, living, breathing analyst. Nayt is never boring. I could never think the phrase, “geez, I wish Nayt would do something interesting.” Lol. He’s always doing something new, thinking something new, trying something new. I love this about him.
Of all the stories I could tell, I will just tell one: when we started dating, Nayt wanted to do something special for the first birthday I had when we were together. I was living in Clifton in a huge apartment with my friend Sara. This apartment had a fireplace that we had never used, due to lack of firewood and my lack of fire-making skills.
For my birthday, Nayt had some big plan, that he had to throw out the window based on some comments I had made leading up to my birthday. Apparently I was stressed out with full-time school and full-time work and didn’t want to think about DOING anything. So, taking that as a major hint (when I wasn’t trying to squash his plans at all but was just venting), he decided to spend a week chopping firewood at his house. And for my birthday, he gave me a roaring fire in my apartment. I was born in November and at that point, it wasn’t that cold. The fireplace hadn’t been cleaned very well and the floo was clogged, so smoke went EVERYWHERE. But I loved it. When I saw his blistered hands and smelled the campy smell, I knew he loved me. Nayt is good at sacrifice. He laid down his plans for what he thought I wanted. Who wouldn’t love a guy like that?
I love you, baby.
Always,
your Jes






