My youngest son Joey is 15 years old today!!! Seeing him grow into a young man has been exciting. He sure keeps our family entertained. As a young boy, Joey was very much into football, adventure and hunting.
The first time DeLon took Joey hunting was when he was 5 years old. He was more than thrilled to go out and was so excited he could barely sleep the night before. We got all of his hunting gear together, cleaned his gun and went over what to expect the next day.
Their morning started out with loading up the boat, filling up the gas tank and getting some hot chocolate for the ride. The frost on the boat and bushes glistened as the sun rose. I watched from the window seeing my baby get ready for his big adventure. You could see their breath in the air as the chill set in. Naturally, I worried that he would be warm enough for his trip so I made sure to pack him an extra set of everything.
They got the boat hitched to the truck and ran in to give me a hug goodbye. I’m not going to lie, I cried a little when they left just feeling a mix of emotions. I watched them drive off until I couldn’t see the truck anymore.
I watched the clock envisioning where they would be during their trip. I crossed my fingers that Joey would catch at least one duck. Hailey and I decided to pick Grandma up before they got home so we could spend some girl time together. We watched a movie, organized the house and went for a ride down to the river a couple of times.
Later that evening we heard the truck pull up. We all ran outside to welcome them home and see what they got. Joey was so excited he yelled, “Guess what Mom, I shot a duck in it’s tuq (that means butt in Yup’ik). We all couldn’t quit laughing. I told him I was so proud of him and asked how many he shot. “I got 33!”. I looked at DeLon in disbelief and he confirmed that Joey did in fact shoot 33. WOW, my baby is a natural hunter like his great Uppa.
The guys came into the house to warm up and my mom and I went to get the birds to clean. We counted only 32 in the bag so we went back out to the boat and found one duck hiding and it had laid a trail of eggs around the boat. Poor. I felt bad for it, but knew we had to kill it. I called Joey over and told him to kill it. He only knew how to shoot it and we couldn’t do that in city limits. It was left up to me to ring its neck.
The following weekend we had an ukiiquq (throwing party) for Joey’s first catch and cooked all the birds. That was so much fun!! So many people showed up and we threw so much stuff out. It was entertaining to watch older woman almost elbow each other to get the goods!
Now 10 years later he still loves hunting, football and adventure. The only big difference is that he is taller than his dad! I just love my baby and reminded him that he will ALWAYS be my baby. Happy Birthday Joey, we love you so much! You have brought so much joy to our lives.
Happy Birthday and thanks to your mother for sharing your first hunting adventure. Classic.