I Am Hearth: Rosemary & Nathan

Rosemary & Nathan’s story was originally featured in our 2011 Fall Newsletter.

The story of Rosemarie and Nathan is the story of a true Hearth romance. Rosemarie moved into Hearth housing in 2004 after four months at the Pine Street Inn. Nathan started working with Outreach in 2007 through the Pine Street Inn and is an active member of the Back On Our Feet group. They met in the lobby of the Anna Bissonnette House in 2009 and started out as friends. Rosemarie had been considering moving around the time the two met. She went to North Carolina for three months, and when she got back, Rosemarie was told, “the man with the sunglasses” had been looking for her. It was Nathan.

They went out to breakfast. They talked a lot. His wife of thirty years had passed away recently, and her sister wasn’t doing well in a local nursing home. They prayed together and trusted God would get them through. Faith is a recurrent theme in their story, as Rosemarie and Nathan truly believe they entered each other’s lives at the right time in 2009. At church one day, Nathan suddenly stood up and said, “Rosemarie and I are getting married.” Everyone was surprised, including Rosemarie.

Both are major cheerleaders of Hearth’s work. “Hearth is an awesome organization,” said Nathan who is constantly recruiting people to work with Hearth, to come live in Hearth housing. “If we can do it from shelters, you can see there’s a future here. Hearth gives us a future,” Rosemarie said.

Hearth is their “love nest,” although they are quick to remind people, “We have problems, too, but we’re positive people. We believe in God. We pray a lot.” Prayer and companionship helped Rosemarie overcome the deaths of her brother and sister since she has lived at ABH, and for her and Nathan, that is what it comes down to – trusting God will help them and surrounding themselves with good people. as Rosemarie’s studio was too small for the both of them. When Property Manager, Kathy Arruda, called to say Hearth had a unit for them together, they were overjoyed.

As Nathan said, “This is love, and it starts in the home.”

Rosemary & Nathan have since moved on from Hearth housing, but they still come back and visit us from time to time.