Gone...

I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd checked in...It's been a pretty strange time for me.

I realized a couple of weeks ago that my friend Van had a birthday on July 3rd. Then I remembered that he'd taken his life last fall. That got me thinking about two other good friends that I've lost in the past couple of years.

Sid was a great guy - one of the first to let me know that it was cool to be a girl who wanted to hunt and shoot. He was a Missouri Highway Patrolman for 30 years, and that was after he'd survived Vietnam. Just after he became our Sheriff, he suffered a heartattack, and spent the final year of his life waitning for a transplant. He died of a massive infection just before he was suposed to come home. Van was a mutal friend. This happened a few months before I found Wilderness Awareness School and came west.

Steve was another guy I worked with for a long time. He helped me bury two old dogs, and gave me a Leatherman tool as a going away present. Van was the one who called to tell me that Steve had died. He had a really warped sense of humor, and liked John Wayne movies.


I miss all three of them. They were all suportive of my outdoor pursuits, even when I beat them at skeet or got a bigger turkey. They were like my brothers, and I miss them.