I met Nathan in the El Progreso Public Library in Uvalde, Texas in the Fall of 2022. Children all over the country were heading back to school but things were different in Uvalde. The community was still dealing with the trauma of the horrific shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022. I was working on a photo essay for the New Yorker about children going back to school in the wake of the shooting.

One morning, I followed the sound of piano music into the rotunda of the El Progreso Public Library. Seated at a baby grand, silhouetted against a sunlit room of bookshelves, I found Nathan. He's a local minister and the part-time chaplain at the hospital in Uvalde. On the day of the shooting, he was there when they brought the children in. He sat with the families as they waited for news about their children.

The next day, he came to the library and played the piano for anyone in the community who needed a quiet place and some peaceful music–including himself.

On this 4th anniversary of the shooting at Robb elementary, my heart goes out to the entire Uvalde community, especially to the parents and families of the victims.

Show notes:

This episode was produced by Greg Miller in May 2026.

Waiting for the School Bus in Uvalde published in the New Yorker, October 10, 2022

Music:

Canon in D Major — Johann Pachelbel
Prelude No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846 (from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1) — Johann Sebastian Bach
Moonlight Sonata — Ludwig van Beethoven
Danny Boy — Traditional
Gymnopédie No. 1 — Erik Satie
Clair de lune — Claude Debussy

All music performed by Nathan Lafrenz.

I want to thank Nathan for his time, his talent, and his healing words. Thanks also to Mendel Morgan, the former director of the El Progreso Public Library.

Special thanks to everyone at the New Yorker, especially: Joanna Milter, Noel Flores-Théard, Megan Field, Bowen Fernie, Stacey Pittman, Andrew Katz, writer Rachel Monroe and of course, David Remnick.

I get script editing help from Tina Chiappetta-Miller