I Miss My Friend........ (long)
He had the moniker of "father-in-law" but he was much much more. I first met the man who I would call my "Dad" in 1994. He was a hunter and a gun collector. My biological father was/is also a hunter and a gun collector so coming from that background we hit it off right away. He was much younger than my father, by 10 years. Myfather had given up hunting and I was hunting by myself, butit didn't take long for that to change andme and my new hunting buddy were huntingturkeys together in the spring of 1994.
He had a passion for hunting like no other and especially loved to hunt upland birds. We hunted doves, quail, pheasant, ducks, rabbits, coyotes and yes whitetail deer together for 12 years. While he never picked up bow hunting he would listen for hours of my stories as well as share his own from years gone by.
He immigrated from Italy when he was 15, he didn't even speak English but learned quickly, he had to in order to survive and prosper in what he called "the greatest country in the world". He eventually married an Italian girl. My parents are also both Italian with my mother moving to America when she was 13 so our families had much in common. Both knew hard times and grew up with nothing but had strong family values.
My parents and my in-laws got to be very close and every time they got together (often) it was more like they were related than anything else. My bond with him was only eclipsed bymy biologicalfather's and I, we were that close. It was like I had two fathers, I was truly blessed!
He had two children both girls and on many occasions he would say that I was the "son he never had" I know that sounds corny but it's how he truly felt.
He was funny and spoke with broken English which made his stories even funnier. Many times he would make me laugh through my ear piece while were were hunting deer. He loved to use the two way radios and would rely on me to see the deer for him. I think he would kick back and sleep while Ikept watch for him.
He was an excellent shot...the best I'd ever seen. He honed his skills in the army with many marksmen medals. I can honestly say I never seen him miss a bird in all the years he hunted. I'm sure he probably did but, I never witnessed it.
He was diagnosed with bladder cancer in the winter of 2005, he had to have his bladder removed and rebuilt with a portion of his intestine. He went through extensive Chemotherapy that drained him physically but never his spirit. He hunted with me that year but not too often as he got tired quickly but he loved the outdoors so much he just couldn't stay away.
In the early spring of 2006 he was given a clean bill of health and was looking forward to rebuilding his strength forthe fall hunting season. We were all relieved and happy that he had come through a very tough ordeal that even the doctors told him would be tough. By the fall he had built up his strength and was feeling great. The doctors removed his Chemo port that was just under his skin on the right side of his chest. He could now shoulder his gun without worrying about it.
We hunted for dove the first of September like we had for years and I enjoyed my time with him in the field. We were looking forward to the opening day of Pheasant and Quail in November butOctober he received devastating news that the cancer had returned only this time in his liver and GI tract.
By November the Chemo had taken so much out of him he was too tired to even go deer hunting with me....the first time in 12 years. It was a sobering time for me and I missed him much but I knew he was fighting and I talked to him on the phone every night to rehash the days events, it cheered me up and I think him as well.
He passed away this April at home, we were all by his side. He was a proud man who fought hard to live right to the end. It's hard to write this as thinking of him like that breaks my heart.I still haven't fully come to terms with it, I have gone through all of the emotions you can think of.....some more than once. He was so giving of a person soI felt It would help me heal if I helpedothers the way he would. He would give you the shirt off his back.So I started my "BigJ's Late Night Giveaways" in a way to help me deal with my loss.Believe it or not it helped knowing I was giving to other hunters. In a strange way it helped me put things into perspective. I think he would have been proud of me, I'd like to think that he is.
As this fall hunting season approached I felt more and more empty inside, there is a void in me that I feel will never go away, a peice of my heart that's gone forever.....I miss him terribly.
I will hit the woods this year alone. Even though he didn't bow hunt he would talk strategies with me and help me with my stands and such. Most heartbreaking will be this years gun season,I don't know what I'm going to do I feel like skipping it all together....I'm sosad just writing this I think I could cry.
He was my second father, my hunting buddy, myfriend.......
I missyou Dad.