I Finally Said Yes

My husband is what some might call, an avid turkey hunter. And hunting at home was never good enough. So every April of every year, he and his hunting buddies would travel some seven and a half hours away to go to where some may say is, “the perfect hunting spot”. Yep, a cabin in the woods. And of course every year he would always ask me if I wanted to go. Me not being much of a hunter and enjoying the time by myself, always refused.

So after years of asking, to his surprise, I finally decided to go along. I mean, what did I have to loose? The kids were grown and just being a housewife, there was nothing else to do anyways. So I went. I have to admit, while not being much of a traveler, the trip even though being long was definitely a change of needed scenery. Coming from a place where there are lots of hills and valleys, (perfect hunting spot if you ask me), corn stalks and flat fields was sure different, not bad, just different.

If you’ve never been to a hunting cabin before, you really don’t know what to expect. But I guess I was about to find out. I would say that this week of hunting was probably routine. As the boys would say, In order to get “the big one”, you had to get up before dawn, hunt all day and return at sunset. Can’t say that was a bad thing, at least not for me anyways because that meant sleeping in and lots of what I like to call, “free time“! Which I liked.

As I recall though, the week was enjoyable. Not doing any hunting myself, I was able to just sit around the whole week, doing a little sewing, taking a break from the normalcy of everyday life. The evenings of this specific week were some of the most memorable for me. I could always depend on some kind of entertainment, usually in the form of the boys having lots of fun, exciting and detailed stories to tell about their hunt for the day. I may not like the hunt but I always like a good story. So, you can see how this was fun for me.

Anyways, after a week of no turkeys but lots of stories about how “that one got away”, it was finally the last day of the week. The hubby came in early from his normal all day hunt. To my surprise he had two trophy turkey’s. I can say that, because both had extremely long beards. For turkeys, that’s a good thing. But what made this more exciting is how he told me he killed both of these turkeys and at the same time. As he was starting to tell me every detail, there walking up the driveway, was his dad carrying a turkey and a story of his own. I knew that this last night was going to be the best of all.

As day was breaking, and the sun starting to rest, in the far distance I was able to see a shadow of what looked like another one of the boys (my brother), coming in from his last hunt of the week. Just in time. With a turkey in hand, my brother walked in with a smile of accomplishment. Wow, what a great last day! Knowing that the stories to be told on this last evening we’re going to be memeories that we would talk about for the rest of our lives. I could hardly wait!

As we‘re sitting around the dining room table, feeling full, after eating the bountiful of turkey legs and breast with all the fixings. For one last time I anticipated quietly, who would be the first to tell their story this time. As my husband speaks up, he proudly tells the tale of how he killed the two turkeys with just one shot, excitingly we all listened intently, not wanting to miss a single moment. Next, his dad equally excited, began to tell the story of how he had killed his turkey, being glad to get one on this last day of the hunt. Lastly, my brother, proudly told his story as well, knowing if it had been any later in the day, he may not have had a story to tell at all. But once they had all told their outstanding tales, this left me, along with all of them, feeling full- filled, knowing that after all these years, this was going to be the week that we would never forget.

Years later, I look back on that week at the cabin with the boys and I truly cherish the memories that were made. Thinking back, I realize, that maybe, I could have enjoyed more of those memories throughout the years, if I would have only said “yes”.