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The Outdoors
With Family Series
Part One
It is said that ‘men have sons to be remembered’.
Well I don’t believe that is all there is to it, but yes, I can see
that. This phrase rumbled through
my mind this first day of September. Let
me take a moment to brag and remember.
Buzz, buzz, buzz…was incessantly going off in my ears as I reached for the
magic button that again would bring silence to my dark room.
Three o’clock in the morning comes a lot earlier at 45 than it did in
my impatient youth. Not wanting to ‘jump’ right out of bed I calmly decided
to take a couple of minutes and think of the coming day’s events.
After all it was opening morning for dove.
My sons have agreed to meet me at the house at 3:30 AM.
Is it just me or wasn’t it just a couple of years ago that I was
walking into my boy’s room and waking up these little rascals?
The Star Wars infested room would come to life with a flick of the light
switch. Two sleepy filled faces would look up and quickly realize
what the day was, dove season! Smiles
and giggles would spring forth as the warm soft beds were abandoned.
Laughter would fill the house when I realized that they had slept in
their camo. BB guns were quickly
loaded into the 4x4 with no regard for any of Dad’s stuff.
“Dad are we going to stop for chocolate milk and Hostess cupcakes”, was
usually the first question of the morning.
After devouring the most important meal of the day I would drive down the
highway for what seemed like a long time (5 to 10 minutes) and realized once
again I was the only one awake. Looking
into those sleeping faces would cause me to think ‘do my boys know how
important all of this is to me, will they grasp any comprehension of what it
takes to be a real outdoorsman?’ We
all wonder about our children and their future and how much of that future will
we be able to share.
Knock, knock, knock on the door ended my dreamland visit with my little boys.
“Sorry guys”, I muttered as my boys came in.
“Ah, I guess the alarm didn’t go off.
I’ll be ready in a minute”. Two
grown men stood there with smiles on their faces, and of course in camo.
“Come on old man, let’s get out there.
We want to get there first”, was spoken with laughter and respect by
them both.
The ride out to the ‘secret spot’ brought on an avalanche of prior dove
hunting stories. Without saying a
word years of hopes and dreams were flooding my heart and mind as I realized
that my sons had become even more than I thought possible.
Every opening day of dove season now renews my youth, comforts my getting older
and puts to rest the worries of ‘will I be remembered’.
After all, parents know that making the memories is most important.
Gary Anthony, Jonathan, I love you. Dad
Gary McCraw
Azod Shooting Editor
Shooting@azod.com
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