I received this email below from a first cousin of mine and couldn’t resist the chance to post the story. I’m proud of both of these women (the one writing and the one being wrote about) in the story, because they both reflect character qualities that were found in the life of our late Grandmother. If some of you guys wonder why I don’t hunt more; then read on. I’m starting to realizing why my Granddad my never really had to hunt either. This is a great story, enjoy!
Hey Y’all,
Just wanted to share a “crazy” event with you! My younger sister, Amber, killed this 280 lb. hog on Saturday evening, January 9, 2010 in the county where we grew up . She and her family and our parents still live there.
Amber has always had a love for “the great outdoors”. At one time, she was the cute thin blonde with a Jeep and a bass boat who could change the oil in a vehicle and maintainence most anything… every guys dream! We are both in our mid 30′s now, raising kids, trying to keep our homes and husbands in check, and she’s a manager with Progressive Insurance. She’s cuter and thinner now than she was back then, minus the Jeep and bass boat. You have to give-in on some things when responsibilities begin to set in.
If I could vote one lady “Woman of the Year” for her drive, ambition, and endurance… it would be her! In the midst of her very busy schedule, she still finds time to stay connected with the extra-curricular activity that she enjoyed before “life happened” and added a lot to her plate! I admire her for that, because in the midst of her major life changes, she has not lost “her identity” as so many individuals feel they do.
There’s another funnier side to this story. When I called her to see if she was really the one who killed the hog, I asked her if she had a picture taken with it. For you non-hunters, it’s a big deal to make sure you have evidence of your kill. The evidence is that you stand, sit, or squat next to it and have a picture taken as proof. This has never been a big deal to Amber. She’s not into all the gloating and bragging that can go along with hunting. It’s her hobbie and “release from the world” for a time. She does sport a few mounted animals in her home… like a bobcat, an 8-point deer in velvet (I think she killed in bow season… I’m not very knowledgeable on all that), and some other things that I know I’ve forgotten about. Getting back to my request for a picture of her with the hog… she said she didn’t have one made. What? Why not? Well, Progressive Insurance was having their end-of-the-year party, that evening and Amber knew she’d only have a limited time to hunt. So, over her attire that she dressed in for a casual party, she put on her hunting “cover-alls” and set out to hunt for the evening…
not knowing she’d kill anything. She had to leave the hog in the field and drive straight to the scheduled work party. Her husband and friend picked up the hog and made the pictures. I laughed so hard when I heard the story. I’m still laughing just thinking about it! She’s a rare diamond… maybe rough around the edges at times… but she’s very precious, valuable, and finds her time to sparkle. She’s probably going to hate this email, because Amber does not like to sparkle. She’s not fru-fru like me, even though looking at her, you’d never know that!
Here’s to you…Amber… sister, daughter, wife, mother, home-keeper, business leader, tractor driver, hunter, fisher, bearing mechanical skills, who changes pampers, keeps up laundry, and has a husband who cooks good…
You’re my “Woman of the Year”! I’m sending this email out to every person I know and will probably be glad, for once, that I live 450 miles from you…. cause I’m pretty sure you could still beat me up like you did when we were younger! Just kidding, not really!
The bigger side to my story about Amber is that we make the time to invest in what we deem important to us. Life is going to happen whether your driving, riding, or being drug through it. Don’t lose focus on the original person God created you to be, and in doing so, live to serve Him.
Amber’s “not-too-much-older” sister,
Tonya Davis Johnson
P.S. You have my permission to pass this on to as many people as you’d like!
