These are the words I will speak for my friends funeral. He passed last night hours after returning home from the hospital. It is a private affair and I am uncomfortable using his name in a public forum. But I believe the sentiment is universal. So I have replaced his name with his/him and his wife's name with 'his wife'. The below doesn't read as well as the original. But I suspect others have met people like this in their travels and this is a place to post those experiences before we lose them to time. A reply isn't necessary and I'd prefer that the only replies were similar stories about those you have met. This isn't the place to comfort me but a place to discuss our encounters with others. PM me if you want to express anything other than your story. Let's keep the public replies focused on our experiences with others.
I don’t pretend to have known Him as most here do. He was my friend. A relationship born out of pure chance. As I researched my words today I was surprised to find out that he wasn’t born here. I had always imagined that when god created this place he was already here.
I met Him and his wife some 15 years ago while guiding my then 14 year old on a junior javelina hunt. Growing up in a suburb of New York City I had no idea of what we were doing and were stumbling along when we met Him at one of his watering tanks and asked for help. In what I later learned was true to how he acted, he directed us to a canyon where my 14 year old was successful later that day. It was a big day for that youngster. We taped a note to the water tank later that day thanking him for his help and offered to send pictures. His wife replied to our note and our friendship grew from there.
I knew Him as a rancher as tough as this land is rugged. I later learned that he was so much more. A teacher, principal, coach, and an incredible artist. He was the prototypical rancher and a true steward of the land. An ally of the hunter. All one had to do was ask. It was obvious he loved this land. He knew the impact of ranching and provided drinkers for the native animals. It was the right thing to do. I suspect he always did the right thing. And in his true fashion he made it a point to make sure the roads were passable prior to hunting season.
During the teacher shortage, I watched from a distance as he filled in at the school while managing his ranch at the same time. Two full time jobs. But again, it was the right thing to do. He and His wife rescued me several times when I did some stupid things that only a city person would do. Once while hunting in the canyon behind their house He and His wife didn’t see my then 15 year old and I come out before dark. Thinking something was wrong he came out looking for us. Because it was the right thing to do.
I learned so much from Him. The relationship between ranching and the land. The history of the grasslands that once dominated this area. The works of the Civilian Conservation Core. Although I hunt here every year, I’m not a very good hunter. But I come here every year because I love this land. A lesson learned from Him and His wife. One that will live in me until I die and If I’m lucky will pass on to the next generation.
I cannot think of Him without thinking of His wife. A more gracious women I have never met. Strong willed and successful in her own right. A lot of my encounters with Him have been through His wife. I suspect that ‘the better half of a man’ applies here. Her strength through this time was just incredible to see. I do not have the words to offer comfort myself. But I carry this thought in my life. It was a quote from a silly movie that had one redeeming line that I believe to be true. “The love inside, you take it with you”.
I’m just a hunter who met a rancher in a chance encounter. But because who His wife and He are I am a better person. I hope to carry on as my friends have lived. We do not know what impact we have on others throughout our lives. In His case, I do.
I will miss my friend.
My Friend
I don’t pretend to have known Him as most here do. He was my friend. A relationship born out of pure chance. As I researched my words today I was surprised to find out that he wasn’t born here. I had always imagined that when god created this place he was already here.
I met Him and his wife some 15 years ago while guiding my then 14 year old on a junior javelina hunt. Growing up in a suburb of New York City I had no idea of what we were doing and were stumbling along when we met Him at one of his watering tanks and asked for help. In what I later learned was true to how he acted, he directed us to a canyon where my 14 year old was successful later that day. It was a big day for that youngster. We taped a note to the water tank later that day thanking him for his help and offered to send pictures. His wife replied to our note and our friendship grew from there.
I knew Him as a rancher as tough as this land is rugged. I later learned that he was so much more. A teacher, principal, coach, and an incredible artist. He was the prototypical rancher and a true steward of the land. An ally of the hunter. All one had to do was ask. It was obvious he loved this land. He knew the impact of ranching and provided drinkers for the native animals. It was the right thing to do. I suspect he always did the right thing. And in his true fashion he made it a point to make sure the roads were passable prior to hunting season.
During the teacher shortage, I watched from a distance as he filled in at the school while managing his ranch at the same time. Two full time jobs. But again, it was the right thing to do. He and His wife rescued me several times when I did some stupid things that only a city person would do. Once while hunting in the canyon behind their house He and His wife didn’t see my then 15 year old and I come out before dark. Thinking something was wrong he came out looking for us. Because it was the right thing to do.
I learned so much from Him. The relationship between ranching and the land. The history of the grasslands that once dominated this area. The works of the Civilian Conservation Core. Although I hunt here every year, I’m not a very good hunter. But I come here every year because I love this land. A lesson learned from Him and His wife. One that will live in me until I die and If I’m lucky will pass on to the next generation.
I cannot think of Him without thinking of His wife. A more gracious women I have never met. Strong willed and successful in her own right. A lot of my encounters with Him have been through His wife. I suspect that ‘the better half of a man’ applies here. Her strength through this time was just incredible to see. I do not have the words to offer comfort myself. But I carry this thought in my life. It was a quote from a silly movie that had one redeeming line that I believe to be true. “The love inside, you take it with you”.
I’m just a hunter who met a rancher in a chance encounter. But because who His wife and He are I am a better person. I hope to carry on as my friends have lived. We do not know what impact we have on others throughout our lives. In His case, I do.
I will miss my friend.
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