How do you even describe someone like Nate? He was so many things that it’s hard to know where to start - a wrestler, a football lineman, a tuba/sousaphone player, a jokester, a protector…so many things, most of them good! Believe it or not, when Nate was young, he was painfully shy. He would hide behind my legs or cover his face whenever anyone spoke to him.
Needless to say, Nate came out of his shell! I knew he would be OK when he learned to count to 100. Nate would find someone in the store and ask them, “I can count to 100, want to hear me? 1, 2, 3, …”. He was so cute that people were just trapped and there was no stopping Nate! He won his kindergarten teacher over each day by telling her, “Mrs. Kellogg, you look beautiful today”. He definitely had the “Cunningham charm” and it was next to impossible to resist that smile!
NATE'S STORY
One of the best things about Nate was that he hated being left out, so he made certain that he didn’t let anyone else be left out either. If a new student came to school, Nate was going to be the first person to talk to them. In fact, that’s exactly how he met one of his best friends!
As time went on, Nate matured and my baby was gone, but he turned into a wonderful, fun spirited boy. He was always able to make me laugh, even when I really wanted to be mad at him for his behavior! Infuriating, but that boy was hardly ever in trouble anyway and he knew how to work me!
Not only that, but Nate had a love for people. If he saw a need, he wanted to do what he could to help. More times than I can count, he made us help someone needing groceries or had us give food to someone who was hungry. If someone needed help with a chore at their home, Nate was on it and he refused to be paid for his work.
Nate was a dedicated athlete as well. He was a varsity lineman and a state ranked heavyweight wrestler, having won 3rd place in class 4A state wrestling for his weight class. He enjoyed lifting weights and being active. Nate would encourage others to keep going and continue to work hard to meet their goals.
As much as Nate was an athlete, he was also a nerd at heart! He played the tuba and sousaphone in band, with one of his favorite songs being the theme to VeggieTales! He also loved Legos and his friends would get together to have Lego parties. At the last party, Nate was giving a friend a ride home and made her sit in the back, so that his Legos could have the front seat!
Nate was a big guy and his favorite movies were the Kung Fu Panda series, so his friends called him Po. We even had a conversation about a week before he passed away where he asked me what order I would rank the movies. I told him my opinion, at which point he made it very clear that I was wrong! (FYI - his ranking is the order they were made and I had no idea that an opinion could be wrong).
On January 8, 2022, during his senior year of high school, the unthinkable happened. Nate was planning on going to a JV wrestling meet to help coach his teammates, because he dreamed of being a PE teacher and a coach. He never made it to the meet. Nate passed away peacefully in his sleep of, what we would later find out, was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Literally, Nate’s heart was too big and the world just couldn’t contain him anymore.
To honor his memory and to carry on his legacy, my husband Steve and I have created Love Big Like Nate Inc. We are doing what we can to help other students at Chanute High School and families in the community. If you feel led, we would be grateful for you to trust us with your donation to help the Love Big movement grow! Even if you aren’t able to donate financially, it doesn’t cost a thing to find a way to Love Big through your own life. So please partner with us and Love Big Like Nate!
Nathan Wayne Cunningham
May 25, 2004 to January 8, 2022
Always in our hearts...
