This is a bit long winded and has little to do with turkey hunting, but I need to say this somewhere, and for some reason this forum seems appropriate to me. I have a friend who owns a small farm. I used to work with him but he moved on to another job with the same company, but still saw him from time to time. I had completely forgotten he had the land. Once, a while back, I invited him out fishing on my boat. He and his older daughter came out and they had a blast. He lives in a different state, but even when I started hunting turkeys in that state I completely forgot about his farm. 3 years ago, we hooked up and he gave me permission to hunt there. I nailed nice longbeards there 2 years running, and would have this season too had I been a bit more patient. I met his wife, a great lady.The place is an hour and a half drive, so she was my guide. She'd tell me where the birds roosted the night before(usually not necessary, the birds were pretty vocal there in the mornings). I didn't know that he had a younger daughter with downes syndrome until the first time I hunted his property. She's a sweetheart. She loved finding out howI did after a days hunt. When I was successful and gave her a feather from my kill, shetold me how she loved feathers and she was very happy to have them.The one son I met takes after him,one very nice guy. The last day of the season was theSaturday of Memorial day weekend. I gave his property one last shot. I quit early, no activity at all, and it was HOT. He was trying out his new weed whacker in front of the bee hives. He and his wife were going to get some new honey bees that day.I was chatting with his wife taking pictures of some of their kittens while he was at it.When he was done, they hopped into their truck and I in mine. Ioffered them each a cold pepsi from my cooler, and they were happy tohave one, they didn't realize exactly how warm out it was until they got into that truck. Ifollowed them out to the main road, honked my horn and waved goodbye and he did the same. That was the last time I saw him. Yesterday, he took his daughter out to apractice for the special olympics. He came home very tired (he had been working 12 hour days on the new job, but was happy he didn't have a 90 mile commute each way anymore). Anyway, his wife noticed he was tired, falling asleep on the couch. She went to get him into bed, but he wasn't asleep. He had suffered a massive heart attack. He was a good friend and all around nice guy. His family are some of the nicest people I've ever met. I suppose I just needed to express my feelings for him and his family to someone. I don't know why I chose this forum to do it in, it just seemed appropriate when I started typing. Anyway, I'm sure prayers for him and his family would be appreciated. Sorry for the long post, but thanks for listening.
RIStrutStopper Im sorry for your loss. May god bless you and his family...
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The story is touching, I'm very sorry to hear what has happened, its hard to swallow at times when things like this happen. I would not be a stranger as it seems you all got a long well. I'll pray for the family for sure...
Thanks everybody. I went to the funeral yesterday, his widow hugged me happy that I made the long drive to pay my respects. She asked me "so where's the turkey?" Thats what I usually hear when I emerge from their woods empty handed. As I'm leaving the cemetary, the son says, "the turkeys will be waiting for ya..." Good people.
Last Goodbye to a Good Friend
