We look at this trophy we now have. It wasn’t long ago we were filled with trepidation, determined to make a go of reaching our goal. We spent time preparing, educating ourselves, readying for this new, big adventure. Then the hunt was on. It was a tough hunt, an endless search for just the right prize to bring home. We were so nervous…so determined. Hours and hours we looked for you. Once, we had our prize in our sights only to lose you to fellow hunters, hunters who entered the hunt earlier, who were quicker and more prepared than us. Patience was learned.
This waiting period is our biggest challenge so far. As we lay in wait for you, sometimes we are hot…sometimes we are cold. In the silence of the wait, doubts set in. “Do we really want this life?” “Are we ready for the responsibility of taking it on?” “Are we willing to continue doing what it takes to reach our goal?” “What if reaching this goal turns out to be more than we bargained for?”
Alas, success…we have our target in our sights, and bam – it’s ours! Our prey wasn’t everything we had hoped for, but it would serve our family well. Just the right size to sustain us for a good while. Once we saw it up close and personal, there were flaws we didn’t notice in the heat of the hunt, scars our prey must have obtained from previous hunters they had escaped from. Now the reality of the situation hits us. We are committed to this process, having taken this life, and you are ours now.
As we work through the steps necessary to bring you home, we find our excitement building again. You have flaws, but your flaws are far exceeded by the bounty you bring to us. As we hike the long path to bring you home, we have ideas on what we are going to be able to do with this bounty, ideas that generate more excitement and a togetherness we did not anticipate. Sometimes our ideas diverge, but we are on this path together and we will not deviate. We will stand together on this path we are on and face this responsibility together. We have worked hard to bring you home, encountering obstacles in our path we must work around, and you will be so much more than a trophy to us.
Reaching our goal is not the end of this journey. Many times at the end of a day, we have looked at our trophy and asked, “Has it all been worth it”? The price we have paid has sometimes made us wonder. In the light of day, the struggle to keep this trophy has occasionally worn us down. At times, you have looked downright shabby. Through the eyes of others, we have sometimes questioned your worth and if the price we pay to keep this trophy of ours is worthwhile. At other times we see the memories that have collected throughout this journey we have taken together bringing such light to our eyes. We have grown together. We have fought off thieves in the night who try to take you away. These trials and tribulations have served to have us appreciate you all the more. Your life was not taken in vain. We work hard to preserve this trophy of ours.
You are more than a trophy on our walls. You are part of our heritage now. We will fight to keep you.
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