I wound up blessed with a wonderful woman, whose father hunts, even though she isn't crazy about venison. Two weeks before we were married, she left me speechless one day by saying, "I want to learn how to bowhunt." Once I scraped my jaw off the carpet, I responded the only way I knew how--"What???" She repeated what she said. I repeated my answer, as I took off my glasses. She said it again. By this time, I had managed to regain my senses, and said, "Okay!"

Later on, she said that she would have to fast for a few days before killing a deer, just to get the urge to hunt to the surface. However, she has no problems with my hunting . . . okay, she may have a problem with listening to me fume over and over about how a deer faked me out the previous weekend, but she doesn't get mad with me going hunting.

I thank God every day for bringing us together.