In the morning, at 10 AM CST, a dear friend and hunting buddy will be laid to rest. Died way too young at 63 years of age. I will be doing the service. Tony called me New Year's Eve night to see how I was doing and to try to get me to go hunting the next morning. Having tagged out on bucks, I told him I was probably sleeping in. He told me if I made a "mistake", to send him a text and that someone would help me out of a bind...lol. But, I didn't go. If I had known that I would never get another chance to hunt with him, I would have gone even if I couldn't even take a rifle. He was sick and hadn't told anyone. He had beaten cancer these last 3 years but was still taking maintenance chemo.
His brother and son found him unresponsive in his home the Thursday after New Year's. During the 3 weeks he was in the hospital, he woke up from the coma 1 night, talked to those who were visiting him that night in ICU...knew everyone and was able to respond to all commands by the nurse. The next morning at 10 AM, I was visiting him and he was once again in a coma. The renal doctor came in and told us his kidneys were failing and there was 1 thing he could do to try and get them to "jump start" and if it didn't work, there would be nothing they could do. It didn't work. Four days later he began to have seizures, the next day they started dialysis, and Monday of this week he took his final breath on earth.
I'm not one who sits around and says "he" is with me every time I go in the woods, etc. But I can say, that every time I have gone in the woods hunting these last 8 seasons I always think about my daddy and the hunts we had. I will now think of daddy and Tony. I've only known him for the last 9 years, but he always treated me like we had been lifelong friends. I was never the friend to him that he was to me, and I will always regret that. He always smiled and laughed and never met a stranger. Me, I'm a loner and not outgoing at all. So I'm sad to say that Tony did most of the heavy lifting in our friendship. If I could, I would change that. We never know when our number is going to be called. We must always be ready. But I'm going to miss him, as will many who knew him. He was one of a kind. I'm going to miss him. God bless all of those who have walked this trail before. Thanks for reading...
