Well it seems that the generosity of "some" people is destined to just keep on making me feel foolish! Last week I got an e-mail from the usps that was looking to confirm my address. Had to be a mistake, i knew I had nothing on the way. The mystery deepened when I saw that the shipper was none other than Big Jim's Bows!! Well in the course of head scratching and thinking he must have gotten a virus in his address book, I got a text from a a fella by the name of Drewsbow that he had taken a doe. I get on the horn and proceed to pump him for all the details of the hunt. After all that, I off-handedly mention that I got an address confirmation from Big Jim and that I can't figure it out. At this point he casually lets on that he and the fellas from the Adirondack Attack had kicked in for a t-shirt for me in appreciation for cooking on the hunt.
Now at this point it bears explaining that cooking for this group of guys is probably one of my greatest joys and that I wouldn't miss it for the world. I actually am grateful that they've let me back into camp each year. I go up to this hunt every year with the expectation of re-uniting with lifelong friends from years past and end up coming away with an even bigger family... time and time again!
Now the idea that any one of these guys felt compelled to chip in and get me a t-shirt as a way of saying thanks for doing something that I feel honored to do, was was a little bit overwhelming and I let Drew know it. Cool as a cucumber he let my feelings of un-worthiness pass right on by him and ended with a "we all just wanted to say thanks" So, with hat in hand I accepted the idea and said thanks.
Days passed and I waited anxiously for my shirt. Onthe prescribed day that the internet tracker told me my prize would arrive, I rushed home to find this odd t=shirt package in my kitchen?!?!?
Gotta be the oddest t-shirt box yet!! This is where my recollection gets a little jumpy and distorted! It started to dawn in the farthest recesses of my mind, that based on past experiences with these fellers, and not the least of which Drew and Ken (who are literally world famous a few times over for their generosity), that there might be some sorta surprise in store for me!!!
I don't know how ones supposed to behave in an event like this, but I can tell you I looked like 40grit sandpaper from all the goosebumps and I swore like a sailor that broke his last bottle!! Words(even bad swears) cannot describe how I felt!!! And for that matter still feel as I type this!
I, like most everyone else on here, am WAY more comfortable giving than receiving and this is certainly no different. I had a hard time putting words together when I spoke to Drew and Ken. True gentlemen to the core, they both said how many great friends had made it possible and that somehow (though I can't fathom how). that I deserved it. Well If that don't choke a man all up and make him (even me), at a loss for recognizeable words, I don't know what else will!
So while I'm still waiting on the complete list of all the fine friends that i have to call and thank, I wanted to share a few pics...of that great T-shirt!!
In highschool a good bud of mine told me a saying that someone in his family had taught him. I'm sure im butchering the poetry of it, but the meaning never left me... "Show me who your friends are and I'll show you who you are"
I can only hope so...
Since I cant find any stronger words, I'll just stick to "Thanks for everything guys"
Nathan
Topic: Free bow with purchase of a Big Jim t-shirt!! (Read 861 times)
