Of all the people here that I know who love to hunt, one of them is very close to me. That person would be my grandson Christopher. Christopher is now 14, getting ready to turn 15 in just a few short months. Christopher started hunting with his Dad when he was very young and, in his short lifetime Christopher has accomplished more in the way of hunting than many people have accomplished in their whole lives. He has hunted for more animals than I can begin to name here and has been very successful at it. Recently he got a black bear (although not his first) and just received his wall mount back the other day...
I love Christopher very much and I am very proud of him. Christopher is mature well beyond his years but, then again I suppose he had no choice. You see, five years ago Christopher was diagnosed with leukemia. For the last five years Christopher has had to fight with everything he had just to stay alive. He has been sicker than I ever want to be and has had to struggle and fight far harder than I ever want to struggle and fight. During his worst days, during his darkest hours, Christopher would always think of hunting. It would bring him peace because that's what he loves to do. During his illness, when he was able, his Dad would take him hunting. This brought Christopher a welcome release from what was going on in his everyday life. When he was hunting he could just concentrate on hunting and nothing else. It brought a sense of normalcy back to his life. Again, he could be at peace.
Once Christopher started to get better his Dad contacted the Hunt Of A Lifetime organization. This organization's mission is to grant hunting & fishing dreams for children age 21 and under, who have been diagnosed with life threatening illnesses. It took a while but they set up a trip for Christopher to go hunting in New Zealand. After the long trip Christopher almost didn't get to go hunting, he got sick the first day he was there. Christopher was determined however and by the next day he was ready to go. On his first day out he spotted a stag. He followed this stag all day but could never get it. He saw others but he was determined to get this stag. On the second day he was successful and he got the stag. Christopher just got that mount back also a few days ago and, I mean to tell you, this thing is huge...
That's Christopher in the second picture (good looking kid, ain't he?). The doctors tell us that Christopher's leukemia is in full remission. They expect him to be okay from here on out. I have to believe that because the other possibilities are too horrific for me to begin to imagine. Christopher wants to be a taxidermist when he is older and I'm thinking he will be a damn good one. Now, I'm not saying that hunting saved Christopher's life, Christopher saved his own life by fighting as hard as he did to get better and by never giving up. Hunting however did give Christopher the ability to focus on something that would give him the peace and inner strength to go on and fight as hard as he could to rid himself of the disease. So I suppose that my opinion on hunting has changed somewhat and I see that there is good in everything, even if I don't see it on the surface at first glance. Hunting gave Christopher the ability to stay with us and I certainly can't argue with that. I can't imagine my life without Christopher being in it.
Enchanted Jewelry & Collectibles...Dedicated To The Gypsy That Remains
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