On Saturday, April 22nd my beautiful, wonderful, amazing girlfriend Natalie Andrea Misa passed away. She was doing what she always did, supporting me and my music with all of her enormous heart and riding up with us to Seymour, Indiana to watch us play to a crowd of people who for the most part, would not be into us. She was going to sell merch like she always did, she was going to offer to go and get me a subway sandwhich (six inch cold cut on italian with american cheese, toasted, and with lettuce and black olives, she ALWAYS remembered this for me) like she always did, because I swore off of fast food and she supported that as she always did.

On the way up to the show she was attempting to pass a car when she lost control of her vehicle, the car spun off the road and flipped several times. I was told by a very wonderful chapliain at Carle Hosptial that it was at this point that she left us. This is truly a blessing because it means that she did not feel any pain or any fear. The hosptial staff at Provena in Danville and Carle in Champaign did everything they could to save her.

Those of you that read this and knew Natalie know she was a truly good person. A lot of times when people are taken away from us, they are remembered in a more positive light than that which they lived in. The wife-beater becomes a family man, the alchoholic becomes a loving father, and so on. This was most definetly not the case with Natalie. She had her faults, as do all of us, but she was more than any boy (especially me) could have ever hoped to ask for, and my only consolations are that I have a group of the best, most caring and loving friends in the entire world, and that Natalie has gone on to a place where she doesn't have to worry about making her car payments, figuring out how to save up enough money to go to lollapalooza this year, and most importantly, finding the strength to put up with her mule-headed lazy, stupid, inconsiderate, and often foolish boyfriend. Regardless of what any one of you believes, I know that there is a God in heaven that loves her more than any of us ever could, and that he has welcomed her into his open arms and given her a place without the trials and tribulations of this life.

I know that when I die she will be there waiting for me, and we'll get right back to trying to rent every movie in blockbuster (besides the kids section), beating grand theft auto: san andreas (yes, a girlfriend that liked to play video games, who could ask for more?) and spending all of our time trying to give each other the things that we think we both need to be happy, when in fact we already have each other, which is always more than enough.

Needless to say, although the future of The Signal is probably not in question, we will be taking a brief (vanderbield-esque haha) hiatus. We will most likely not be playing the black sheep cafe on friday. The show in town at the McKinlely Foundation will go on, although whether we play or not is not known at this point, and this is because I know that Natalie would not want me to sit here and and feel sad, and that she would want me and the rest of my wonderful bandmates to keep doing what we love, playing our hearts out and always remembering her as the wonderful person that she always will be. Natalie would not want me to let down the guys in the bands that are playing the April 29th show, so I will not disappoint her. However, if there are no objections, it would mean a lot to me and a great deal of other people if the april 29th show could be a sort of memorial to Natalie, I know that not a great deal of people knew her, but those of us that did know that a rock show to immortalize her memory suits her pefectly.

As I said before, I know not everyone that reads this believes in God, and I will not cheapen her death by using it as a tear-jerker to try and ensnare people in my own religious beliefs because that is not who I am, and it would dishonor her memory. So all i ask is that if you are reading this and you believe in God like I do, please pray for her and tell everyone you know to do the same. Feel more than welcome to post comments about her on this page, and also her myspace. If you do not believe in God, please send out your support and understanding of a wonderful life that has been lost and do the same.

Remember Natalie Andrea Misa as the wonderful person that she was, and always will be, and please keep her in your thoughts so that she can live on within us forever. Thank you so much for reading this very long....I suppose it's an obituary isn't it? It hurts me more than anything has ever hurt me in my life that she had to leave so early, with so much left undone, but I know there is a reason for everything, and I also know that when I am old and on my deathbed, I'll go quietly with a smile on my face because I will finally after the long years and decades, be able to see the love of my life again.

thank you.

Jacob Roth