Take a friend fishing - or squirrel hunting...

My little story of how you never know how you will affect someone is not about fishing but about a squirrel hunt.

15 or so years ago I had an acquaintance at work who was having marital and teenage son problems. He told me how his 14 year old son and him were having a lot of problems due to his troubles with his soon to be ex wife and that he really wished he could spend some time in the woods or on the water with him.

My family owns some good hunting ground so I invited him to bring his son out sometime on a nice Saturday and we would shoot some squirrels. Soon he told me they had some time and we set up a date to go. That day was a beautiful early October day and the squirrels were moving good and we shot a couple of limits and spent the rest of the day just playing with the .22's target shooting. They both seemed to have a great time. Next Monday at work he said his boy talked about how much fun the day was. I was happy for them.

A couple of years later the dad had never gotten over the divorce and committed suicide. I went to the funeral and in the receiving line I shook the boys hand and expressed my condolences. He looked at me a few seconds then he smiled and said "you are the guy that took me and dad hunting aren't you"? When I said yes he told me that day of hunting was one of the things he had thought a lot about in the last couple of days since his dad's death and then he bent down (he was a lot bigger by then) and gave me a long hug and thanked me for that day. I didn't know what to say.

I have tried since then to remember that even what seems like a small act of kindness can be something that lasts a lifetime to the person receiving it.