![]() She says, “I think the hardest part for me was processing through what would happen if my husband were to get remarried after I passed away. And then, as I got older, I thought, ‘Okay, well, I’m living this long-what am I going to do with this life I have?’” Of her own decision to marry, Megan said, “I always knew that I wanted to get married, but when I was born, the life expectancy was 19 or 20. God loves all His children, even the frail ones.” In fact, he says, “I felt that if I refused to marry the woman I loved on grounds of her physical health, I would have to answer to God for it. In the end, he was overcome with the certainty that marrying her was a good path. That is how I felt with Megan her goodness hit me like a wave.” Isaiah 48:18 refers to one’s righteousness being as the waves of the sea. “I got the courage to marry into an illness because of the waves of joy that came to me when I was with Megan. But by that point he knew Megan so well and loved her so much, it was a fairly straightforward decision for him. Those promptings helped Nate have the faith to propose. As they continued dating, Nate began to pray about their relationship, and every time, he felt that it was “definitely, definitely a good thing.” A Step of Faith When Nate brought Megan to meet his family, his brother told him, “I don’t know who else you’re dating, but she needs to be in the top three.” He was surprised by her enthusiastic response, and they went on their first serious date soon afterward. Meanwhile, Nate returned home from his missionary service and gave Megan a call. When she was in the hospital, she often had to videoconference in order to “attend.” However, she made it to graduation with stellar grades in a field she is passionate about and continues to pursue. Her academic success came after a lot of hard work and sacrifice. While Nate was on a mission, Megan pursued her education at a private liberal arts college in Utah, graduating with a degree in creative writing. They were close friends from that moment on. He said hello, and the two of them sat down and began talking. Nate remembered Megan from his old high school, and he had a feeling that he should talk to her. Then their senior year of high school, they both went to an interschool debate competition. ![]() Megan and Nate went to the same middle school and briefly to the same high school in Payson, Utah, even though they didn’t know each other then. In the end, the blessings they have received match and even surpass the trials they have faithfully and joyfully endured-together. Megan says, “I think everyone kind of envisions the fairy-tale ending: you get married and then everything’s all perfect. “But,” he adds firmly, “most good things are that way.” “It’s probably harder than I thought it would be,” Nate says. ![]() They knew as well as anyone could the struggles that lay ahead of them. What’s more, Megan and Nate had been good friends since high school. She was diagnosed at two years old and had spent most of her life dealing with the disease. Nate and Megan Richardson decided to marry knowing full well that Megan had CF. Left: photograph courtesy of the Richardsons right: photograph by Leslie Nilsson ![]() She and Nate love to go hiking together, but depending on how sick she is, she might have to carry along an oxygen tank at the same time. She can’t do sports that involve running, and she has to be careful about not overexerting herself. Because she gets sick easily-and when she gets sick, she generally has to be hospitalized-she wears a mask in most public places. Megan has to do respiratory therapy twice a day, which involves putting on a vest that fills with air pockets that essentially pound her until the mucus in her lungs becomes easier to cough up. In fact, she was his wife, Megan.Ĭystic fibrosis demands a rigorous treatment schedule and frequent appointments with many different specialists-anywhere from three to five in a typical week. He was so upset by the question that he would not speak, because he knew someone with CF. There were people in the class on both sides of the issue, but Nate remained silent. Since CF is genetic, there is a possibility that the parent could pass the disease along to the child if the other parent is a carrier, thus affecting the child and ensuring that the disease would remain within the human gene pool. The students began a discussion of whether it would be a good idea for people with that disease to have children. CF can severely affect the quality of life of the patient, and currently there is no cure. A few years ago, Nate Richardson found himself in a college science class in which the teacher brought up the subject of cystic fibrosis (CF)-a chronic and progressive disease that affects the body’s ability to produce or break down substances like mucus, sweat, or digestive juices. ![]()
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