It began as what seemed like a normal cold November night. But life as we knew it was coming to a complete stop, only miles away. Jacob’s friends knocked on the door of his home telling his parents what they had heard on the police scanner. “A guy named Jacob, in an older model, gun-metal grey mustang was in an accident involving an 18-wheeler”…the single worst news anyone can think of. Jacob Nathaniel Langston, 17… gone… stolen away on Monday, November 24th, 2008. Photos will forever be missing an important and familiar face in them and family dynamics have been shattered.

Everyone rushed to the hospital. Nothing will ever heal the hurt and emptiness felt at that moment as the doctor spoke.

Jacob was a bright, talented kid with his whole life ahead of him. he was funny, witty, one of a kind, did things in his way, in his own time and never knew a stranger. He was friends with the in crowd and the not so in crowd. He loved people and they couldn’t help but love him back. Jacob was a giver, a helper and lover of life.

Earlier than most, he recognized the beauty of God. God knew he was ready, even if we didn’t. Jacob recognized how precious life was and fought for what he believed in with passion and righteousness, no matter what the consequences, and he was prepared to stand firm in his belief’s. A beautiful soul who achieved what we all strive for… a stroll down those beautiful streets of gold.

At the age of 12, he taught himself to play the guitar and toyed around with drums. He Rigged up his laptop, a mic’ing device, amp and guitar so he could record songs he had learned and start writing some of his own. But above all the music, which was his life from daylight to dark, that boy loved his 1989 gun-metal grey mustang. he worked every day with his step-dad and grandfather until it was really something to look at. Jacob took pride in what they had accomplished… it was his prized possession and he washed that car every single day!

Jacob wanted to be a nurse and help others. While standing in line to get his driver’s license, his mother asked if he knew about being an organ donor, and he answered “yes” on the questionnaire. With everything going through his mother’s mind that night at the hospital, donating his organs actually was one of them! Jacob made his wishes known and his family honored them! “Live and then Give” has since become his mother’s motto. Two days before Jacob’s 19th birthday, his mother received a letter stating he helped 226 people! That, my friends, is a true hero!