Remembering Anthony: The Stories

To read about the events of this past week, read drowning and closure.

    I know this blog post probably won’t mean much to many of you (and may not even make sense to a lot of you), but honestly this is one that I’m really writing more for myself than for anyone else. I have been thinking about Anthony a lot lately. I have had millions of moments and stories running through my head on a loop. I have laughed and cried a lot remembering him. So, I wanted to just share some of my favorite moments with my little Nica brother:

*I think the very first day I met Anthony (almost 3 years ago), he and Andres were riding together on a bike through the streets of Candelaria singing “My Heart Will Go On and On”… hilarious!! I really wish I could have captured this moment on video, but as soon as the video camera came out, the singing abruptly stopped. However, nearly three years later, I still picture this moment in my head all the time when the two of them are hanging out together.

*Only my Kiatera girls will get this, but… “La verdad, la verdad, la verdad”

*I remember what a tough kid Anthony was the first time I was here. He didn’t want to show any of his heart or emotions. I remember the day in the clinic that those walls first came crumbling down as he sat sobbing and telling us about all the things that were going on with his family.

*I remember the smile on his face when Lindsay and I sat in rocking chairs in his living room talking to his mom and telling her how proud we are of him and what a good kid he is.

*I remember the afternoon that he accepted the Lord and seeing him baptized. I will never forget the smile on his face as he came out of that water hand raised above his head in victory!

*My last week in Candelaria I was such a mess! I cried so much. Anthony and Andres would mock me relentlessly about it. Every time I started to cry Anthony would just look at me and bust out laughing.

*I remember when Anthony first started working at New Song and was
working in the garden. He was just learning to have responsibility and
to submit to authority. He would often skip work just because he didn’t
want to go. Diego always let me know when Anthony hadn’t been working. I
would immediately email him asking why he wasn’t at work that day. I
think it freaked him out a little because he asked Diego, “How does she always know?!” Yeah, Anthony received a lot of my momma chats during that time.

*I remember having Diego set up a skype date for the Kiatera girls with Anthony and Andres. We were so excited to see them and talk to them! Of course, they spent the first 20 minutes just starring at us without saying anything. Then next thing I knew, they were both rolling on the floor wrestling. Oh, you gotta love 14 year old boys!
 

*I remember asking him what he wanted to do with his life and his completely blank stare in return. When I met Anthony, he was a kid that had never been taught to dream for his future. I also saw him begin to dream and plan for the future. I saw his pride when he began working at the church. I remember being here visiting with my family and he brought the very first hammock that he had made all by himself and how proud he was to show it to me and to explain how he had made it. He and Gato even held up one end each and then had Marileyssi come and sit in it so I could see how it worked.

*I remember how completely thrilled I was to get back to Candelaria in September ’09 with my family (even if it was just for a week) and how particularly excited I was to see my two little brothers: Anthony and Andres. I had been searching for them all day and when I finally found them I smiled from ear-to-ear yelling “Hola hola” and waving like crazy while they both gave me to cool 1/2 head nod and nothing else… PUNKS!! But I loved them, not just in spite of, but for their punkishness.

*I remember that same trip when he FINALLY opened up. I was sitting and hanging out in the living room with a bunch of the youth and then said that I was going to go and eat dinner. As soon as all the other youth left, Anthony slid over beside me, put his arm around my shoulder, and said, “Lisa. I have missed you SO much! I’m so glad you’re here. I have so much to tell you…” and then began to share about everything I had missed in the last year. He opened up his heart sharing about school, his family, his walk with the Lord, etc. until the moment that his friends returned and then he stopped mid-sentence and said, “Don’t you need to go and eat dinner.” Ha! Conversation over.

*You have to have tough skin to live in Nicaragua. There are things that our American culture would say that you just don’t say to people that seem to be totally normal here in Nicaragua. For example, when I first moved here all of the kids kept telling me, “Wow, Lisa. You’ve gotten much fatter since the last time you were here.” I remember one day walking into town with Anthony and he called me fat (again) and I finally just told him, “You have got to stop telling me I’m fat. It hurts my feelings.” He just looked at me for a minute like he was thinking and then said, “Does it hurt your feelings when we make fun of you for being short too?” I told him that one was fine. Ever since that day, he never called me fat again, but he ALWAYS called me enana (the Spanish word for midget). In fact, he referred to me as enana so often that I can’t even remember the last time he actually said my name.

*I love talking to Anthony about all the things that he has been learning in the Word. Several times I would talk about a topic or verse in youth on Wednesday night and then Anthony would come to me later and tell me about scriptures that he had been reading at home at night and what the Lord had been teaching him through it.

*Anthony loves to cook and is really a fantastic chef! There were
several times that he would come and tell me that he wanted to cook for
me. We would make a trip to the market together, buy all the necessary
ingredients, cook at his house or mine, and then enjoy a delicious lunch
together. I always tried to help while Anthony laughed and joked about
me not liking to cook. Gosh, I’m going to miss those days!!

*I remember Anthony coming and talking to me when his brother started getting into trouble. He was worried about him and didn’t know what to do. He came to me looking for big sister advice. I listened, talked to him about ministering to his brother without getting caught up in the things he is doing, and we prayed together for Manuel.

*I remember one night at church that Anthony was going to dance with our dance team. There was a part in the middle of the dance where they had a free dance where the youth just worshipped in the way they saw fit without choreography. I love seeing their personalities come out in their free dance! I remember watching Anthony jumping around flipping his hair like at a rock concert. It was so full of worship and it was so much his personality!

*My first time in Nicaragua I had written a letter to each of my kids. I had prayed over the words to speak to them and asked the Lord for a verse for each of the youth. My verse for Anthony is Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” I spoke and prayed this verse over Anthony’s life so many times. After I moved to Nicaragua, I was teaching youth one night and this verse came up so I asked Anthony to read it for me. After youth, he came up to me and asked, “Enana, do you remember that is the verse that you gave me when you were here 2 years ago?” We had an entire conversation about how much he has thought about that verse in the last two years and how he now believes that the Lord has plans for him. Yes!! I love seeing my youth believing truth!

*Anthony loves music and particularly enjoyed Lady Gaga. I have definitely seen him several times burst into song singing “Alejandro” and breaking out his Lady Gaga dance impression… hilarious!

*I always tell my youth as often as I can that I love them and that the Lord loves them. I can’t even count the number of times that I would say goodnight to Anthony giving him and huge hug and telling him that I loved him only to have him give me his little smirk and say “I know enana. I know” before telling me that he loves me too.

*When I came back to Nicaragua after being in the States for Christmas Anthony told me, “Enana I have a confession to make… I missed you SO much while you were in the States! I was really missing you one day so I took the picture that you gave me and put it in one of the frames where all of our family photos are and sitting right there where I can look at it every morning when I’m eating breakfast.” The next time I went to his house to visit, there was the picture of me and Anthony exactly where he told me he put it (this picture that is to the right).

*Near the beginning of the year, a woman in Nuevo Amanecer prophesied and prayed over Anthony. I remember seeing a fire in his eyes as he came and told me “Enana God knows EVERYTHING about me!” That experience really put a fire in his heart to know more and more of the Lord over the last months of his life.

*In January Anthony told me that he felt like we hadn’t had enough time together just the two of us so we planned a day for just us to hang out. Anthony LOVES the beach! So, we went to Leon and spent the day at the beach: talking, laughing, eating tacos, swimming in the river, and just spending time together. It was the last full day that I had just me and my brother. 

*I remember sitting on the bus with Anthony on the way home from the beach listening to music on his ipod. One of the songs talked about having a crush and Anthony was asking me what that meant. I explained to him what it means to have a crush and used the example of this girl that Anthony liked (and never had the nerve to talk to) that worked at one of the food stands in the park. Then Anthony looks at me and says in perfect English, “Yeah, I have a crush on her.”

*In February Nicaragua has a cowboy festival. Anthony was super excited about taking me and Barb with him. He told us that we needed to buy cowgirl boots, hats, and outfits for the day. The day that Barb and I were out shopping for boots and such Anthony starts texting me letting me know that he has found the perfect boots for me. He set them aside for me and he was right- they’re perfect! Also the day of the festival, he brought me a giant cowboy hat to complete my outfit. We had so much fun hanging out, parading through the streets, and watching the horse shows.

  I love my little Nica brother so much! I am so thankful to have been a part of his life and walk with the Lord. I love you and miss you so much Anthony!! These are a few of my favorite stories. I’m working on a video of him now and will hopefully have that finished later this week. So, stay tuned for Remembering Anthony: The Video