Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Kevin Dill on December 26, 2010, 10:17:00 AM
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It seems at times that we deal with one loss after another. We've all heard about several recent notable people...good people...who've left us. Bill Krenz, Chris Surtees, Glenn St Charles, and of course the list could go on on and on. Chances are YOU'VE lost someone notable and important in your life sometime in the recent past. Chances also are, you're feeling it just a bit stronger these days.
The holidays often bring these losses back into our conciousness. I know when we sit down to our dinners, there are several beloved "empty chairs" in our minds. Maybe that's one of the good things about the holidays. As we gain in maturity, we also gain in perspective. We recognize that these missing people have given us far more than we've given to them. In a way, their deaths serve to make us better men and women. They have given to us their entire lifetimes, but losing them is often the very lens that brings this into sharp focus.
Take a minute here. Post a picture in remembrance, and tell us a brief story about someone. Try to tie it to your traditional bowhunting pursuits somehow. Let's never forget!
My father died over 2-1/2 years ago. We spent much time together, but not enough either. He is 100% the reason I love the outdoor sporting life so much. He bought and hunted with an old red-glass Bear Polar back in the 60s. I still have that bow with me. He was by my side when I bought my first real recurve bow, arrows and accessories. I was 15 and had worked all summer to earn the money. Here is a picture of him taken in Arizona circa 1959 or so. He was an accomplished horseman, and participated in many rodeos. I love you Dad!
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g13/dillbilly/dad003.jpg)
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:campfire:
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Yes, 2010 has been difficult. One loss after another for my family and friends. My Father passed away on July 4th of this year from a sudden and rare illness. Pictured below is our last hunt together, successful in many ways but more importantly a memory of a lifetime.
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s271/Limbow/DSC06213.jpg)
My dad looked forward to our Bow opener here in Michigan each year as it meant we would be spending time together in a setting we both cherished. The year I was born, 1970- My Mom purchased a Bear grizzly from the Bear Shop in Grayling near our cottage for my Dad. It now hangs on my bow rack-I can assure you I will be chasing whitetails next fall with it :) Thanks Dad
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This is a great post.
Leland
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No pictures of me and my Dad, lost him before all the digital cams and I do not have a scanner. He turned me loose in the outdoors though he did nto care to hunt himslef (after the wars he did not care to kill anymore). He did hunt in his youth, never with a bow as he thought bows were a waste of time and opportunity! Me I was infactuated with them and while he did not understand he supported; he grew up dirt poor and had to hunt alot for food. He went in to the Marines underaged and ended up going through Korea as a machine gunner, and then Vietnam as a Lt. He was a Marine to the day he passed and a tough one at that, he taught me alot on how to take adversity how to be strong mentally as well as physically. He would always tell me when I went through some hard times - "do it or die trying" I still live by that old saying as if he himself is saying it my ear.
I asked him many times if he thought he would die in the wars. He always said that "the Lord has a time and place for me to die, that is when I will die." He passed opening day bow season 96.
So is life, at some point our times will come and we will see our loved ones again as well as have the chance to watch over our loved ones that stay behind and carry on. I wish to stay with my family as long as the Lord allows but when my time comes I look foward to sitting down with my Dad and telling old stories of times past.
J
Great post - good memories.
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Lost my brother John, the little guy on the left, in a 1989 construction accident when he was 39. He and brother Mike, the "hero" in this shot from 1961, were my bowhunting mentors. (Yeah, that's me in the background)
(http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z304/Owlgrowler/00small590251421.jpg)
Hardly a day goes by without thinking of him still
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Kevin,
Is that your Mother's shadow in the picture taking the picture with one of those old Brownie box cameras? Cool photo for sure. :)
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You are precisely correct. One of the things I love about that picture her shadow. She was always somewhere nearby it seemed, and always backing us up in most of our pursuits. Thanks for catching that!
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I don't have any pictures, but I lost my Father in 2001. My Father introduced me to the outdoors and we experienced many great hunts together. My father was shooting a compound when I started bowhunting so it was natural for him to purchase me a wheelie when I began hunting. I had some sucess with the bow and my dad always seemed to have a reason as to why he wasn't successful. After a few years I asked him why he never took a shot at any animals with his bow and his reply was that he wasn't confident with the compound and from that point on he always vowed to take out the recurve and get back to "real hunting". Unfortunately the cancer prevented this from happening as he never got the chance. I continued hunting with a compound and gun but after a few seasons I lost my passion to hunt, in fact I decided to hang it up once and for all. Shortly after this decision my mother passed away and when going through her personal belongings I found my Father's recurve, which I never even knew was still around. I strung it up, took a few shots and instantly the passion was back. Now everytime I hunt I feel connected with nature and with my father.
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Just remembering my son lost him at 16 by careless drinking driver.
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Lost my dad on October 1 of this year. He introduced me to the outdoors at a very early age. I think it was in 1970 when he tried his hand at bowhunting. It never became a passion for him, but he was always interested in hearing about my hunts.
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I lost my Dad 15 years ago. He wasn't a hunter or outdoorsman but did teach me to fish and supported my quirky hunting and outdoors activities growing up. Here he is during the early days before the war when he worked for Glenn L. Martin Co in Middle River, MD in the cockpit of a plane (facing front) giving a demonstration.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/reddogge/EdCarlMartins.jpg)
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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/Rooselk/Outdoors/Archery/Trad%20Bows/WSTR%202010/WSTR2010066-1.jpg)
Lost my mom and son in 2009. This year I lost my 16 year old granddaughter and a close friend of nearly 40 years. The pic above is of my granddaughter Vivian taken this past May at the Western States Traditional Rendezvous, one month before she passed away.
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Rooselk, I'm not usually a very emotional guy. My heart goes out to you dealing with so much in such little time. The son, and then grandaughter hit me hard. I'm thankful for every damn second with my family. No one should see children or grandchildren go before we do, but it is what it is. I wish you and everybody here extreme strength, and reason to deal with such tough circumstances. Don't know what else to say, I can't write what I feel.
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My Mom passed Oct 29 and one of my sons went to jail 4 days later, within a week of that my daughter had a miscarriage. Tough time in my life. God knows- I don't. Always.
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My brother had passed away in 2006. It has been by far the most troublesome thing for me to get over. Since we were little kids we did everything together. Hunting and fishing was are favorite activity as kids and carried on to a passion for us as adults. He was one of those guys that just had a knack for where to set up on deer and turkeys. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of him. I miss Jay!
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YORNOCK, thank you so much for the thoughts and kind words. One of the tough things for me was that Vivian was the only child of my son who passed away last year. But I am very greatful for the amount of time I was able to spend with her in the year before she passed.
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We lost my Brother to brain cancer on May 29th 2000. My Mother had a massive stroke and passed away on May 29 of this year. Very emotional Christmas for our family. You do what you can today and then try again tomorrow.
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I lost my Dad 4 years ago. He was the one who ignited the passion for the outdoors in me and especially bowhunting. He got me into shooting a bow as a kid( he was really into it and I wanted to do everything he did). This was before compounds. I have a lot of good memories of hunting and fishing with him. Thanks for this post.
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Lost my Dad a year ago Dec. 10th, 2009. He just turned 87 a few days before he passed. I used to beg him to take me squirrel, rabbit, pheasant hunting and fishing. He sure got me started loving the outdoors. I sure do miss him!
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This is a difficult post to think about. But responding may help someone better appreciate their friends. Every time a friend dies a piece of you dies along with the buddy.
My Dad took me hunting for the first time when I was 11, he died when I was 13, I only got to hunt with him for 2 years.
My Police partner and bow hunting buddy died water skiiing when he was 26. The friend who replaced him on our Canada trips died while drunk in a car wreck at age 21.
A young man I met and became friends with thru my archery business was killed in a motorcycle accident a few years ago, he was about 20.
Another one of the Canada trip buddies died of cancer at age 55.
My brother in law and lifelong fishing and hunting buddy died a couple of years ago from complications from diabetes.
I guess the point is, we can go anytime. Appreciate every day, appreciate your friends, you will miss them if they go.
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I must say that most of these stories and pictures really affect me. We go through our day-to-day lives and seldom say much, or let people know what we've lost. Sometimes the simplest statements say the most about our thoughts.
Keep the fire burning...
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my dad died at 85 in july of this year,he gave me
my first longbow when i was 6 in 1960,i shot that bow every day at pretty much anything for years, he taught me to hunt pheasants when i was
7, both are still passions i carry with me today.
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I lost my Father several years ago,he made my first bow out of an osage branch with a twine string,he wasn't a bow hunter but he taught me to respect nature and cherish all game we took.Iknow he's smiling down on me know and I want him to know I truly miss him.
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A good friend Richard Otto pasted last month at 46 years of age. I knew this young man from the time he was 9 years old until his death. His father, my best hunting partner. We spent many days in the wood with Richard tagging along. I will miss Richard and his sense of hummer. May God take care of my friend.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/graybuffalo/IMG_0036.jpg)
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Sometimes I don't know what to say to someone else who has lost a loved one but I know a bible verse that I read that says to "Be still and know that I am God"...Sometimes we need to just remember we are here for Gods eternal plan not ours...I just know I excepted Jesus as my Savior and that by excepting Him I will one day see those that have gone before me....I know when I held my Mothers hand as she drew her last breath of air here on earth I told her to go Home if she saw Jesus and if He was calling her...My Mother let out a tear that ran down her face as I watched her go Home and I told her I'll see her later....My Mom gave me my first Bow and arrows and knew Archery was in my blood...Thanks Mom for those memories...I feel everyones pain but I know without a shadow of a doubt where I made my "retirement" plans....It ain't Florida or the Corribean but much nicer....God Bless,Keefer's <")))><
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Kev,
This post is probably old enough that this won't get read but I just found it today. As my friends and family know I lost my wife of 36 years in February of 2010. She was always so patient and understanding when the leaves started to turn in the fall. When I got my first traditional bow in 2000 I named it "Gypsy" after her for her understanding of my out door heart.
The pain of the loss is however, made more palatable by the comfort of friends like the author of this thread. Without out my friends I would have nothing to look forward to, but with the strong friendship base I have, especially my "traditional family" I have plenty to look forward to, Here is to a wonderful New Year with great Old Friends.
God Bless my friends,
Pip
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Very emotional,I'm touched.Thank you all for sharing such a personal matter and it is ,at the same time,an excellent thing to do.God bless.
Guy