| Although I had grown up with firearms, my new wife | | | | wonderful life for herself.The next daughter in line |
| had no such interest. The thought of keeping | | | | was a natural when it came to target shooting. She |
| firearms inside the house annoyed her. As the | | | | did not have to take a back seat to anyone when it |
| children came along I began to show an interest in | | | | came down to hitting the target. She accompanied |
| teaching the kids how to shoot. My wife trusted me | | | | me several times to our deer lease. As time marched |
| and went along with my plans to interest the kids in | | | | on she began to show interest in the drill squad at |
| guns and hunting. I had originated from a family | | | | school and the baton. She has a natural steadiness |
| where guns were the norm and they were meant to | | | | with the gun that translates into torn targets.The |
| be treated with respect. I kept all of the guns locked | | | | next two boys showed a great interest in learning |
| up and away from prying eyes at the house. I had | | | | the art of the gun and hunting practices. The older |
| earned a respect from my father who on excursions | | | | boy went with me rabbit hunting. We walked the |
| out of the house on the farm always seemed to | | | | woods and marveled at it's sights on every out door |
| have his winchester 97 in tow. I marveled as a | | | | occasion. The shotgun was his first choice. We shot |
| youngster at the sight of his collection. The thought | | | | birds and enjoyed every aspect of our time together. |
| of his grand father's pistol being handed down to me | | | | This November he has a date with buffalo,deer and |
| instilled a sense of inspiration into my being.With | | | | hogs.The youngest boy was shooting pistols and |
| several kids to practice with and instill a sense of | | | | rifles effectively at an early age. He had his |
| safety into their education, we began our voyage. | | | | opportunities at deer and made the most of them. |
| The oldest boy enjoyed fishing and target practice at | | | | Last year he shot a beautiful 8 point white tail, a 3/4 |
| my father's stock pond. While in the boat one wintry | | | | curl ram and a nice hog. This year both of the boys |
| day his sense of comedy began to take form. Half | | | | will be going down to our acreage to sit in their |
| asleep ,I was awakened by shouts from his end of | | | | stands and watch for deer coming to the corn |
| the boat that a snake was approaching. The pistol | | | | thrown out of our feeders.My wife finally caught the |
| came out and shots were fired. The 22 caliber bullets | | | | bug. She asked for a pistol several years ago. On |
| did nothing for the exterior of my lure which I had | | | | Christmas morning a bright and shining new 9 |
| left floating on top of the water almost an hour | | | | millimeter Glock hand gun was under the tree for her. |
| earlier. I thought that he was going to fall out of the | | | | At the practice range she is gaining her mastery over |
| boat from excessive laughter.The daughter next in | | | | the gun that she got for Christmas under a shining |
| line did not fancy the shooting arts to any degree. I | | | | green tree.The grand kids are next if I still have the |
| did not push my appreciation of the sport on her. Her | | | | strength to walk the hills and dales and creeks of our |
| pleasure came from backing the car into the lake | | | | county. The education by experienced people can |
| when I asked her to get in the car and pull the boat | | | | lead to a valued respect for fire arms. Safety can be |
| and trailer out of the water. I guess that she was | | | | taught that in later years can be very useful. A real |
| getting back at me for pulling a prank on her after a | | | | life scenario is a much better teacher than the act of |
| viewing of The Boggy Creek Monster. A film about | | | | watching television and trying to imitate every thing |
| the exploits of big foot not that far from our front | | | | that you see portrayed by actors. Those same |
| door. The shenanigans he exacted on the local rural | | | | actors, no matter how many times that they are |
| population was terrifying. At that point the only | | | | shot on t.v., will still get up the next morning suffering |
| thought she probably had in her head was using the | | | | no ill effects from the gun shot wounds inflicted by |
| gun against me and all of the safety laws that I had | | | | their adversaries.Stephen Graham-Writes information |
| taught her went out the window. She was and still is | | | | about his life experiences and his hobbies, hunting and |
| one of the finest daughters a man could ever ask | | | | fishing. |
| for. She is a pleasure to be around and has made a | | | | |