Growing old with grace
By Larry McDuff
“The Salesman” of ’94
Fairhope, Alabama, July 18, 1995
OU MIGHT SAY John Nester walked home ... on the
Appalachian Trail. You see, his first marriage didn't work out. There were
the usual reasons -- married too young, had a child too soon.
But he never missed a month of child support all these
years. He was the pastry chef at the Grand Hotel in Mobile, specializing
in ice sculpture and chocolate carvings. After the divorce
he moved to a similar job at the Opryland Hotel in
Tennessee.
His life took a turn when he met Tamalyn. I remember
his parents being so excited about her. She was just what
he needed. They both dreamed of hiking the Appalachian Trail.
After marriage they began their hike in the spring of 1991.
Gary Poteat, who hiked with his son that year, recalls,
"They were my favorite couple on the trail -- so happy and so
in love. We were with them until Northern Virginia when
Tamalyn began to have trouble keeping up. They finally
finished in late October -- barely ahead of the snow and
ice."
After the trail they moved to Colorado. Living in the
middle of an 80 acre wilderness tract, they watched elk and
deer roam down the mountain and around the pond in front of
their dome home.
Then it happened. A medical diagnosis revealed why
Tamalyn was having trouble. Cancer. They moved to Ohio to be near her family and medical
care. He bought a home and worked hard to keep up with the
medical bills.
Last year she died.
We met on the trail in New Hampshire last August. Ann
and I were hiking north, John was hiking south. We sat for
an hour talking in the middle of the trail.
Settling everything had taken longer than he imagined,
and he was late getting started. But he was determined to
hike the trail again in her memory.
He said he was already finding healing just being out
there.
"What are your plans?" we asked.
"I want to return home and grow old with grace," he
replied.
He's living now in the house built by his great-
grandfather on Seacliff Drive. We see him often by the bay
hauling seaweed for compost in a home-made garden cart or
catching mullet with a cast net.
He worked briefly as a salaried woodworker to pay his
taxes. He said the best thing about that job was the
opportunity to go through the scrap-wood pile every night.
He's a natural woodcarver, working primarily by hand to
create beautiful relief carvings. Replicas of sailing
vessels in exacting detail are on display at his house --
tiny mahogany planks, maple railing, string rigging -- all
historically accurate.
He's just been commissioned to create a scale model of
Wellington Johnston's classic schooner for display in the
Fairhope Yacht Club.
Like so many artists, he's found his home here in
Baldwin County.
Grace and peace be unto you, John Nester.
Back to the Journals page