Gift from Toni

I know most of you who follow my blog never got the chance to meet brother. My sweet sister-in-law, Toni, gave me a very thoughtful gift for Christmas but for you to realize how much it means to me you need to know a little bit about Adam. Adam loved being outside...I mean LOVED being outside. He spent the better part of his childhood (and adulthood) dirty from playing outside from sun up to sun down. As a little kid he was always in the process of building a fort and as a big kid he built the log cabin he and Toni would call home. Adam, my dad and my uncles regularly camped in the mountains of North Carolina where Adam developed fishing skills my dad and uncle just couldn't compete with. During the family visitation prior to Adam's funeral my Uncle JR told us that had it not been for Adam's fishing expertise they would have gone hungry on a few of those camping trips. But Adam wasn't just a good at fishing with a rod & reel...he enjoyed fly fishing which I think is an art if you've ever seen it with your own eyes. For Christmas this year Toni gave me a framed picture of 2 fish and dry flies Adam had tied. I had expected Christmas to be really difficult this year and I made it through tear-free until I opened this gift. I can't tell you how much it means to me to have a gift like this that is so "Adam".