Traditional Values Make for a Pretty Good Life

     Thanks to the internet, and the popularity of social media, I recently reconnected with an old pal, Roger Norris. Roger and I go way back. To be more specific, we actually attended Head Start and Kindergarten together at Starkweather Elementary School in Plymouth, MI. In time, our families moved on up the social ladder and left the Old Village portion of Plymouth for the wealthier parts of town, on the other side of the tracks (literally), and I wouldn't see Roger again until West Jr. High.

     We always had something to talk about because we both came from Hunting and Fishing families, (not too hard to find those in MI). After my parents moved to my mother’s hometown of Troy, TN, in my 8th grade year, I didn't see Roger again until the summer we graduated from high school. He stopped by my granddad’s house on S. Harvey in Plymouth, with another friend who happened to hear I was up visiting. Over the next three decades I would occasionally think of Roger and our other running buddy, Todd Maguran, and wonder where they were, and what they were doing. Along came Facebook. I knew that with our 30 yr. reunion approaching there was bound to be some activity on Facebook by my old classmates. So I started searching names and ,viola! there was Roger. I knew from the profile pic it was my old pal because it showed the unmistakable riser of a Longbow in the foreground and whitetail does in the background.

     I didn’t waste any time catching up with Roger. I told him about a student I had had a few years ago, in my Handgun Permit Class, named Roger Norris, only to discover it was Roger’s father. He lives a few miles down the road from where I sit typing. I learned that after high school, Roger, looking for excitement, and heeding an inner call to duty, joined the Army. During those same years, I started my own band, became a licensed private investigator, and a bounty hunter (I actually prefer skip tracer, to "bounty hunter" as the latter brings to mind visions of an old west gunfighter much like a cock-eyed, Jack Elam looking, character, in dusty clothes, a sawed off Greener double barrel in his hand: riding into town with a body draped over his trailing pack mule).

     I found the parallels in Roger’s life and mine to be pretty amazing. Roger is happily married to a beautiful lady. They have recently celebrated their 25^th anniversary and have 3 children. Not counting Daisy, the beagle, they have; two boys and just to finish things up nicely, their youngest is a beautiful young lady, the spitting image of mom (thank heavens!) except she has Roger's hair color. Sound familiar? Okay, not quite. Mary and I, started a little later and have been married 22 years, and also have two boys and a girl, not counting Major, our 14 yr. old, yellow lab. The difference being, it's my middle child that looks like his mother. The eldest boy, and the baby girl look like dad.

     We both have successful marriages and are happy, almost the point of feeling guilty about it. Maybe the secret is due to the fact that, being outdoorsmen, there are many seasons throughout the course of the year that draw us out of the house to “while away” our free time, thus, allowing our wives to run the house without us underfoot. I don't think that's it. More than likely, it's the same set of principles that make us good sportsmen, that also help our marriages to be successful. I think it's passion, first and foremost. I know for a fact that I am a passionate person. I am opinionated, hard-headed, and sometimes downright obtuse, but I am also dedicated, and "true blue". My Maker comes first and then it's my family. I actually believe that my wife and family are a blessing from God! I think if you’d ask Roger, he would say the same thing. It's hard to leave a woman that you feel was made "just for you". And, I distinctly remember swearing “before God and these witnesses" to several promises I made on our wedding day. I gave my word. That means a great deal to me. I would never break my word to a hunting buddy. How much more then, should I never break my word to my wife?

      It also takes two to tango, which means you need a spouse with that same passion & dedication to always do right. Notice I didn't say that we always do right, but that we have a passion and dedication to do right. And, lastly, because in the history of mankind there has only been one perfect person born, forgiveness is extremely important. I am ridiculously hard to live with and know it. Pick someone that can overlook your quirks and shortcomings and do the same for her.

     The name of this website is “traditional woodsman”. Maybe that’s the secret. The same set of principles that cause us be traditional outdoorsmen is the very thing that also causes us to hold our responsibilities as friends, husbands, and fathers in high regard. Those “traditional values” that we hold so dear, are an integral part of who we are. Then again, maybe our wives just have a high tolerance for buffoonery. Either way, I’m glad Roger and I have connected again. It has been said that one’s wealth can be determined by the quantity and quality of relationships in one’s life. If that’s true, and I believe that it is, I am wealthy beyond imagination.

Keep posting your comments. I enjoy reading them and replying back to you.

Jamie

originally published on www.traditionalwoodman.com