SHARING A BIRTHDAY

In the early 1990’s, when I first began hunting with my friend Jim Roche, owner of Magnum Guide Service, I would travel to Jim’s home at Ft. McKavett, Texas where we would spend several days hunting whitetails together. I was just getting into guided hunts and very much enjoyed the time spent with Jim. He was a great teacher and I was learning so much about hunting deer.

On one such visit, I had the distinct pleasure to meet his lovely girlfriend Melony, a lovely young lady from Austin. Jim had met Melony during a visit to Austin to visit his family, and had invited her out to his home in Ft. McKavett. Melony was a petite, soft spoken blonde with a pretty smile and a distinctly southern drawl. She was very friendly, easy to talk to, and fun to be around.

I saw Melony again several times later when I was visiting Jim, and during one of our discussions I learned that she and I shared a birthday. Just the month and day unfortunately, not the year, as she was much younger. But it was still a pleasant surprise and an honor as far as I was concerned.

I was happy when Jim and Melony married a short time later. Over the next few years I would continue to visit them as they moved their main lodge to Christoval, and then to their current location in Eldorado. Jim and Melony were steadily building Magnum Guide Service into a world class operation and I was honored to have the opportunity to be a part of that. As their web site proclaimed, “They were going places”.

Since I regularly hunted whitetails and exotics with Jim, I would often be visiting at their home when “our” birthday rolled around on December 1. Invariably, Melony would present me with a beautiful birthday cake in celebration of “our” birthday, and she, Jim and I would share a joyous celebration. Having an opportunity to be with such a great couple in such a great place was more than I could have hoped for, but this added “togetherness” of sharing a birthday made our friendship even more special.

Due to health problems I have not been able to visit the home of Jim and Melony in the past couple of years, and I really miss the good times. But, true to form, Melony and I always manage to exchange birthday greetings and E-mails early each December. Hopefully, before long I will be able to resolve my health issues so that we can again get together for our celebrations.

Meeting and spending time with new friends is one of the many pleasures hunters enjoy as they pursue their dreams. I have been fortunate enough to form some great friendships throughout the years, but occasionally something happens that stays near and dear to your heart forever. My time spent with Jim and Melony, and the privilege of sharing such a special time together has been priceless.