Hunting with Dad

[Ben Lamb]

http://www.mtbullypulpit.org/2011/10/regulating-life.html

My father has renal cell carcinoma. His cancer has been traced back to his days spent working at a uranium mill in the Gas Hills of Wyoming in the early 1960’s. Many of the boys he worked with in the mines and the mills ended up developing cancer, and many of them are dying. My father is one of them.

Dad has always been a badass. I recall a memory of him getting cut off by a trucker somewhere outside of Crowheart, Wyoming. My father pulled into a rest stop following the trucker, who’d stopped to take a leak. The trucker sensed my father’s anger and he came after him. Before I knew it, Dad had a tire iron in his hand, and he was ready to let the guy know that he didn’t care for his driving. The trucker apparently wasn’t interested in the conversation after the tire iron came out. At the time, I was maybe six or seven years old.

 

[Oak]

Thanks for sharing, Ben. I hope you have more hunts with your dad.

 

[Brentster7189]

Nice article. Thanks.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Thanks guys. That was pretty tough to write.

I'm hopeful that we'll get at least one more year. He's got a 577-500 BPE No. 2 that we need to bloody.

 

[Up North 8]

Thanks for sharing. The "badass" part made me laugh so hard and I was tearing up at the end. Glad he's had a great life. Hope everyone else can do the same, me included.

 

[tarheel]

Ben, sorry to hear about your Dad's situation. While we know they'll not always be with us, we're never ready for their time to end and the passing of the baton. Spend all the time you can with him and try to experience those things which you both enjoy. Tell him you love him; that might not sound too manly to some, but it can never be said too often.

I just got off the phone with my Dad a few minutes ago to wish him a Happy Birthday, his 97th, and hearing of your situation I feel guilty that I've been so blessed. The last time I got him out with a gun in his hand was a dove opener, and we were four generations together, from my Dad through my grandson; a day most memorable. God bless. RT

 

[Ben Lamb]

We're better friends now than 5 years ago, that's for sure. We'll get one more hunt in.

 

[5Speedjim]

I thought I lived to go hunting till I lost my dad. Then it took a couple years to get the bug to really go. It took my nephew turning 10 and getting his license. Enjoy every minute you can with your dad and we all hope you get in a few more hunts

 

[Randy49er]

Great story Ben, my Dad never weighed more than 150lbs, but he was probably about as fiesty as yours. Of all the things I've lost I miss my Dad the most. Best to you both.

 

[noharleyyet]

You are a fine and generous wordsmith Ben. Mine has been gone for over 30 years but I think of and miss him every day. Thanks for adding a bit more perspective to how I still see him.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I have a great editor (wife).

The truly sad part of this situation is that 12,000 people are in the same condition. Those people were unnecessarily sacrificed because of economic expediency.

Remember this when someone tells you that the regulations designed to keep us healthy, and keep critters out on public lands are being trashed in favor of a few more dollars.