Nathaniel L. Crowson
Nathaniel L. Crowson
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Age: 30
Location:
Perkins Rd. near Quail Dr.
Baton Rouge , LA
United States
From a tribute to Nate:
“Will my daddy come out of the moon and pat me on the head and tell
me goodbye?” asked Kat, my best friend’s 5 year old daughter, when she
learned her father had died. How do you explain death to a 5 year old?
How do you make her understand that she will never again see her father
a.k.a. her super hero?
Nathan, her father, was killed while riding his bike. The man who hit
him was drunk with one DUI already. The collateral damage of
addiction…a fatherless 5 year old.
I watched as she tried to wrap her mind around absolutes like “never
again” and “forever,” her little heart splintering with each epiphany.
“I will never see my daddy again.” And the tears came…the keening…the
pain so deep she could not fathom. “So he’s an angel now?” she asked,
attempting to write this in a way that makes sense to her. And we try to
get her to believe that he’ll always be with her…he will always be in
her heart…he will always watch over her.
I remembered hearing the same cliches when my mother died and
believing them at the time. They gave me comfort, until the loss was
undeniable. Nothing can replace the touch, the love, the voice of a
beloved parent. Her tears were my tears, and I shed my own for this
little soul on the verge of becoming lost right in front of me. I wanted
to tell her so much, but I couldn’t…I wanted to tell her of the void
and the isolation and the desperate emptiness that follows after a
parent’s death. Things that she wouldn’t understand now, but she will
live later.
I wonder if Kat will follow in the path he started her on and
continue to play multiple musical instruments. Or will it be too painful
of an association? I wonder if she will be an artist, like him. I think
about the pain she will feel when he’s not there for the good things in
her life – her graduation, her wedding, her own children. I think about
the abyss that will threaten to consume her when the bad things happen
and she rages and weeps for Daddy.
Kat is fortunate, though. She has a large and loving family,
functionally dysfunctional (like all families). So many people who will
love and take care of her. Give her strength. Guide her. The sad thing
is, as I know well, there will be moments when none of this matters for
she will have lost the one person – the only person – she wants right
then.
Nathan will always be her hero. He died before Kat discovered he was
human, before he could disappoint her. He leaves her the legacy of
unconditional, perfect love.
From DIG
Cyclist community erects memorial for victim
By Kendra R. Chamberlain
Posted Jan 25, 2012
Tragedy struck last weekend when a drunk driver killed one cyclist and injured another.
Nathaniel Crowson, 30, and Daniel Morris, 31 were riding their
bicycles east on Perkins Rd. near Quail Dr. when a drunk driver struck
and killed Crowson and injured Morris.
Crowson died at the scene, while Morris was transported to the
hospital with non-life threatening injuries to his lower body, according
to The Advocate.
The Baton Rouge Police Department arrested and booked Joseph Branch,
28, on vehicular homicide, second-offense DWI, first-degree vehicular
negligent injury and reckless operation of a vehicle.
The cyclist community has erected a “ghost bike” at the scene of the
accident to honor Crowson and raise awareness among motorists and
cyclists of the need to share the road.
The monument, a bicycle painted white and locked to a street sign, is part of an international tradition among cyclists.
“[Ghost bikes] serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on
an otherwise anonymous street corner,” the website www.GhostBikes.org
states, “and as quiet statements in support of cyclists’ right to safe
travel.”
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Age: 30
Location:
Perkins Rd. near Quail Dr.
Baton Rouge , LA
United States
From a tribute to Nate:
“Will my daddy come out of the moon and pat me on the head and tell
me goodbye?” asked Kat, my best friend’s 5 year old daughter, when she
learned her father had died. How do you explain death to a 5 year old?
How do you make her understand that she will never again see her father
a.k.a. her super hero?
Nathan, her father, was killed while riding his bike. The man who hit
him was drunk with one DUI already. The collateral damage of
addiction…a fatherless 5 year old.
I watched as she tried to wrap her mind around absolutes like “never
again” and “forever,” her little heart splintering with each epiphany.
“I will never see my daddy again.” And the tears came…the keening…the
pain so deep she could not fathom. “So he’s an angel now?” she asked,
attempting to write this in a way that makes sense to her. And we try to
get her to believe that he’ll always be with her…he will always be in
her heart…he will always watch over her.
I remembered hearing the same cliches when my mother died and
believing them at the time. They gave me comfort, until the loss was
undeniable. Nothing can replace the touch, the love, the voice of a
beloved parent. Her tears were my tears, and I shed my own for this
little soul on the verge of becoming lost right in front of me. I wanted
to tell her so much, but I couldn’t…I wanted to tell her of the void
and the isolation and the desperate emptiness that follows after a
parent’s death. Things that she wouldn’t understand now, but she will
live later.
I wonder if Kat will follow in the path he started her on and
continue to play multiple musical instruments. Or will it be too painful
of an association? I wonder if she will be an artist, like him. I think
about the pain she will feel when he’s not there for the good things in
her life – her graduation, her wedding, her own children. I think about
the abyss that will threaten to consume her when the bad things happen
and she rages and weeps for Daddy.
Kat is fortunate, though. She has a large and loving family,
functionally dysfunctional (like all families). So many people who will
love and take care of her. Give her strength. Guide her. The sad thing
is, as I know well, there will be moments when none of this matters for
she will have lost the one person – the only person – she wants right
then.
Nathan will always be her hero. He died before Kat discovered he was
human, before he could disappoint her. He leaves her the legacy of
unconditional, perfect love.
From DIG
Cyclist community erects memorial for victim
By Kendra R. Chamberlain
Posted Jan 25, 2012
Tragedy struck last weekend when a drunk driver killed one cyclist and injured another.
Nathaniel Crowson, 30, and Daniel Morris, 31 were riding their
bicycles east on Perkins Rd. near Quail Dr. when a drunk driver struck
and killed Crowson and injured Morris.
Crowson died at the scene, while Morris was transported to the
hospital with non-life threatening injuries to his lower body, according
to The Advocate.
The Baton Rouge Police Department arrested and booked Joseph Branch,
28, on vehicular homicide, second-offense DWI, first-degree vehicular
negligent injury and reckless operation of a vehicle.
The cyclist community has erected a “ghost bike” at the scene of the
accident to honor Crowson and raise awareness among motorists and
cyclists of the need to share the road.
The monument, a bicycle painted white and locked to a street sign, is part of an international tradition among cyclists.
“[Ghost bikes] serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on
an otherwise anonymous street corner,” the website www.GhostBikes.org
states, “and as quiet statements in support of cyclists’ right to safe
travel.”