A Very good day

[BigPoppy]

Well guys and girls I had a great day on the 14th, you see I turned 50. For some that number is the bell that tolls for others it's the top of the hill, and for others it is over the hill. For me it was a day I was told I would never see, due to my health and kidney disease. back in 99 the docs said three years if your lucky son, and you do just as we say, that is stay quite and lead a placid life avoid just about every thing you have ever enjoyed and you might make maybe four or five. Well for about six months I did that and I wallowed and I cried and I wondered why me. Then one afternoon in a VA hospital my room mate who had been being treated for cancer was told your cured sir you can go home in a day or two. on day three they came back in and told him they were wrong and that it was worse than before and if he did as they said he might make it another month or two, he sat there for awhile and then he looked at me and said I have been doing it their way for a year now and now I might get a month of puke and needles or go my own way and he said I guess I will go my way this time. Well He signed a AMA sheet and told his daughter take me home, He lived on the Cumberland river, and he wanted to be there on his porch with his family before sundown that day, well charles did it he made that ride down to his house on the river and his children and grandkids all were there and they had a picknic they called me at the hospital and told me how he was doing, how he was smiling and was holding every kid there for a little while. The next morning his daughter came by to wish me good luck with my surgury and to thank me for being friends with her dad if only for ten days, When the sun set on the cumberland he told them he was tired and ready for his sleep and that he loved them all, He layed there with a smile on his face and drifted off to sleep. a few minutes later he was gone on to the place he wanted to be, at home with his babies forever. They called me today and told me happy birthday and they were glad I was doing all right. I hung up the phone with a tear in my eye as looked around the house at my daughter, her two daughters, my wife and few more of my family. The Girls got me a new Humming bird to go on the trolling motor mount for the front of the boat, the othe had lasted for more than ten seasons so this one should out last me. The oldest grandaughter got on the computer trying to work out our fishing schedule around the "never ending winter" as she is now calling it. She is now 9 years old and her personal best records are a 5lb large mouth, a 7lb hybrid,a 8lb channel cat, a 14oz blue gill, a 4lb rainbow. and a 15 inch crappie we released because she was full of eggs and she wanted those eggs in the lake to make more fish like that one. We did not get to go fishing but we had a great time talking about it and the two year old just got her new rod and is learning how to cast it and I am having a refresher course in duck dodge and run. When I was a young man of twenty one I wanted a son so bad I could taste it, I was going to show him all of the great stuff out doors, so when we had the little girl with her mommas eyes well it did not matter I melted like butter when I held her. My wife ask me why does the baby have to be a boy for you to teach it all of those things, and I could not answer her without sticking a body part in a oh no you did not say that trap. and so my life with an all woman family began. Now my daughter is one of the best pistol shots any where and learned to track before she could read, she rather drive a truck than a corvette any day. The 9 year old is going to compete in three D archry shoots this year she took a doe last year using a 45lb draw compound bow. they all love to wade fish and I would would not trade them for a boy scout troop in the woods. I died on the operating table a couple of years back and they said I was gone for nearly 5 minutes and the Doc nearly made the call and I came back all at once, all on my own one nurse said it scared one resident out of her gown, And in that short time I swear to you I came upon a river so beautiful my words can not do it justice every thing there was perfect and there were folks on the other side waiting for me there but they just smiled and i heard someone say not yet son it will be here when your ready. A few hours later I ask who told me it was not time yet and what were they talking about. and at first we all thought it was just the drugs. but I don't believe that, any more Some one knew that my girls still needed me and I needed them and they let me stay and for every minute of every day I am thankfull, and the days when I have all my girls I am truely blessed. I may be sick and crippled up a little but what have I done to deserve not to be sick, I have so many things that others don't. Love, Family, and the oppertunity to know exactly how much those two things are worth,if I only live to 51 I would not trade that for a life of 95 if it meant having to give them up for even one hour. Folks I know I am a rambling old fool but setting here tonight I just wanted, or needed to share this with someone,maybe someone out there having a tough time out there,take it from me after 14 operations I know pain is temporary love is forever, don't let a day go by without telling someone I love you. well good night folks. lets get out there and drown some worms and have a great season.

BigPoppy
AKA Dennis

[zx150]

Very nice post. You have put it all into prospective. Good luck and GOD BLESS YOU. Ryan.

[DJD]

I was still wiping sleep from my eyes when i started reading your heart felt post. You are a lucky man in that you have what everyone truly desires and that is happiness and love.
God Bless you and your family and thanks for putting the focus back into things for me.
Don

[Chubminnow]

Ditto on what DJD wrote - Thanks for reminding me of what's REALLY important in our lives each and everyday.

[Devils Horse]

An excellent post. Delivered as good a message to me as anything I've read in a long time. Happy 50th, and may you see many more.

[td176]

Very good post, had to stop reading to wipe the tears from my eyes, This really makes me think how lucky i've been to hunt and fish with my kids!!! I only hope they past it on and enjoy teaching theres as much as i've enjoyed teaching mine.
God Bless you and Yours

[MsgMills]

Great post there my friend, Happy 50th and I hope you get 50 more..... I too really enjoyed reading your post, and it has brought back more idea's I need to tend to more often than not....

Bless you.....

[Dover]

BigPoppy --- wow --you said it all...like others who replied above have said already, you have put it all in perspective...... We should all be so lucky to wake up each morning whether it be to head off to work or to head off to the lake, but most importantly, just to be there another day for the ones we love...

Happy 50th Birthday and many more....keep us updated on your endeavors and especially your fishing trips to the H2O....... tight lines...

[chunknwind]

Thanks for sharing that story with us; it's so easy to lose perspective in our everyday lives. I wasn't blessed with children, but if I had been, that is what I would have dreamed of doing, enjoying the outdoors with our future generations. Happy birthday and God bless.

[Tnstratos283]

Great post there my friend, Happy 50th and I hope you get 50 more..... I too really enjoyed reading your post, and it has brought back more idea's I need to tend to more often than not....

Bless you.....

Couldn't have said it better myself. Puts you to thinking of what really matters most in this old world that we all tend to take for granted at times. Happy birthday and hope you get to make many more memories for years to come.

[SlopFishin]

Man, you just put everything in perspective. Great post BigPoppy. Hope you continue to prove those docs wrong for a long long time.

[bigwormy]

great post. i have my first one on the way in november and i am like you, wanting a boy bad. you have just put a different spin on my outlook. thank you!