Taking Arianna Outdoors

I hope everyone likes my next post. What I am about to share with you are 2 chapters from my book that I am writing titled "Taking Arianna Outdoors" These chapters are from the middle of the book after we set the stage with "Life" leading up to these events.
Hopefully the stories reflect how much of a friend Tom has become and how important he has been to help us take, Arianna outdoors.

I hope you enjoy,
Bill

Tom Neumann

 

As I explore the depths of my memory, I try to recall how long that I have known Tom Neumann. Now remember there is a difference between knowing, as in an acquaintance, and knowing as in a friend. We had met at the Allegheny Sports and Travel Show that was held every February in the Monroeville Expo Mart. The year is still uncertain. As long as I can remember we would tour the blaw, kacky colored boats, as well as the shiny, awe inspiring, metallic dream making vessels,  and the fishing presentation before making our way upstairs.

 

As we would climb the steps we would begin to hear the cacauffany of turkey sounds eminating from the Penn’s Woods Booth. I wish I could recall the first times I visited the Penn’s Woods Booth, as Frank Piper, the original owner of Penn’s Woods, may have been running the calls and I so want to remember any conversation that I would have had with a turkey hunting pioneer. Tom and his brother Greg purchased the company from Frank in 1986.

I can always remember the sound of the yelps, clucks, cuts, and purrs as they would pull me in like any typical gobbler in the spring. As I would look around the hunter orange and forest green packages and Penn’s Woods banner, “We bring the Game to You,” would entice my visual as the calls would stimulate my auditory. I often fell into a trance just staring at the assortment of calls before my eyes. Each being there own work of modern folk art. If there is such a thing. At the time I didn’t hunt turkeys, but I knew that it was something that I wanted to try. Had I just known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have put it off as long as I did.

 

I know the first time I was snapped out of my trance, probably with droll out of the corner of my mouth, a gentlemen asked if he could help me. I looked up and saw a genuine smile and sincere look on a face as I stuttered and stumbled to cover up the blush I still feel on my cheeks as I recall. “oh, awe … “ awkward pause “… awe, I don’t hunt turkey?!” awkward pause “I would like to though!” as I quickly recovered. He said “That’s ok, is there anything you would like to see?” He was always helpful as he would let me handle box calls, pot calls, and differing variations of each. I would always have to decline as I never had money to purchase anything at the outdoor show. I was a poor college kid at the time, and I couldn’t even recall the last time I saw a turkey. It was still a pretty rare occasion in Frogtown to bump into a turkey. I do know that there was rarely a time that I visited the show, that I didn’t go over to oogle the calls at least three times before heading to the great egress.

Year after year my brother Gary and I would venture south to Monroeville. Not every year, but most. That was our common ground at a time when two brothers needed to find just that. Our first trips would have been with Ryan, who passed in 1992. I can recall one time as Gary was carrying Ryan on his shoulders, and Ryan may have had to many french fries that day. A stomach can only hold so much so the excess spewed over Gary’s head and shoulders. As I cleaned up Gary and Ryan an exhibitor said “You must be brothers, ‘cause only a brother would do that for another!!” He was probably right.

 

In 1994, as Laura was in labor with Arianna at Magee Women’s Hospital we teased that we were going to venture over to the Sports and Travel Show until the baby decided it was time to come. I’m certain none of us had cellular devices at the time, so we were definitely not doing anything more than joking. But I’m also sure that in the back of our minds we were scheming about how we could pull it off.

Our yearly journeys to Monroeville continued after Arianna was born. The first years Arianna would have ridden in “The stroller.” When Tanner came along after 1997 they would have rode in a double stroller. I still wince at times when I think about that one. I think the year was probably 2003. Tanner would have been able to walk, and Laura and I would have taking turns carrying Lia, who was born in 2001. Arianna would have been growing more independent in her aqua wheel chair. She would fly down the aisles, sometimes getting out of our site as she would be taking in all the sights and sounds of the show. One time as she got out of sight and I panicked for a brief second to find her, I turned the corner and she was talking to Tom. He was kneeling in front of her with that same smile I described earlier, as he was showing her how to work a squirrel call. As I approached he looked up and said “I think you’re in trouble now!” It must have been written all over my face. He said “She was strolling through here like she owns the place.” I think in her mind she thought she did. As we chatted it almost seemed like he remembered us from year to year. It’s sort of hard to believe, but I really think he did. Remember that squirrel call? Well he gave it to her, as she hugged him and I shook his hand and said “Thanks!!”

 

We continued to make our yearly journey to Monroeville. Each year we would stop by the Penn’s Woods Booth as the sounds of the calls, the sights of the orange and green, and the beauty of each call would suck me in. I was always greeted by the same smile, whether it was Tom, Greg, their father Moe, or one of the kids who were now growing old enough to work the booth too. We would chat for a while, shake hands, and wander off to see the rest of the show. As I said earlier, we would often visit the booth numerous times and if I was a good boy, Laura would let me buy a call. We often got more than one, as Tom would slip one of their new models in the bag. “It’s for the girl,” he would say with a crooked grin.

Penn’s Woods had an outdoor television show that would appear on Fox every Sunday morning. It became part of my routine to rise and watch Penn’s Woods before getting ready for church. One morning when Arianna ventured down stairs earlier than the rest, I sat her in her chair and we watched Penn’s Woods TV together. I still recall the astonishment I felt when, as we were watching, she said to me “Daddy, is that Tom? After all, we only saw him once a year, and it was for a brief time. Obviously it was a very memorable brief time. It was then that I knew that there must be something kindred here.

A lot of people had been suggesting and pushing us to do “Hunt of a Lifetime” or “Catch a Dream” with her, but I thought she was really too young and too immature. I thought about it though. Ted Nugent kissed her on the cheek once, and we had met numerous other outdoor show celebrities which would have made awesome hunting adventure companions, but I still thought she was too young. That is until that Sunday morning. It just so happens that the Sport and Travel Show was only a couple of months away.
When we went this year, I was on a mission. As we turned the corner to the Penn’s Woods Booth, Arianna was in her new purple wheelchair. Tom greeted us in his typical manner. Hand out ready to shake and a sincere smile. Next he would then shake Tanner’s hand and bend down to hug Arianna. After greeting the entire Neumann family, I picked out my call. Tom asked about the squirrel call as he slipped a new turkey call into the bag, “For the girl?!” This time I asked him if he could do me a favor. He said he would try. I told him about that Sunday morning, and he blushed a little. I also told him about how people are suggesting that we take Arianna on a “Hunt of a Lifetime.” We talked about how she was now a veteran hunter with one year under her belt and how things had changed health wise that might have made me think that this trip was more eminent. He told me to check into all the details and let him know what he needed to do. We exchanged emails and graciously parted ways. It wasn’t long until I opened an email from Tom that said “Let’s not worry about this ‘Hunt of a Lifetime’, why don’t you just bring Arianna and Tanner down and hunt with us here?” Dozens of emails back and forth, plans and arrangements were made, and we were headed to Export to hunt with Penn’s Woods. The rest is history!!!!

The First Hunt with Tom

 

It was the spring of 2007. We scheduled the hunt with Tom to be the Monday and Tuesday of the first week of the season. Tom wanted to take Arianna out for the youth season, but decided against it since at that time the youth season was only one day. He then thought of the first Saturday, but decided not again since we couldn’t hunt two consecutive days. It was decided that we would come down on Sunday afternoon. Tom had made arrangements for us to stay at the Super 8 Motel in Delmont.

I loaded up my ’88 Jeep Comanche with all of our gear, a wheelchair, and two excited kids. It was about a 2 to 2 ½ hour drive from Tionesta to Delmont. It was a beautiful venture in new territory on a sunny spring afternoon. We drove uphill and downhill, through town and farm, and on winding roads that occasionally allowed you to read your own license plate. I thought it might have been a bad sign when we got close to where we were going to hunt with Tom, that we saw two gobblers that had just been hit by cars.

We drove on, excitedly passed the Penn’s Woods store in Export, only a couple more miles to Delmont. After we checked into the motel and unloaded some of our gear, we walked up the street to the King’s Restaurant to grab a bite to eat. Afterwards we waited to meet Tom. I don’t recall exactly where Tom was, but I am sure that he was at one of the kid’s baseball or soccer games, or someone’s music lessons. They say idle hands are the devils workshop. Let me tell you, this man is so busy the devil has no chance with him. Tom eventually showed up to be greeted by a very excited little girl. After a short visit, it was decided that we should all get some sleep. Turkey season requires some early starts.

Next morning, I woke Tanner and Arianna at 4:00. We drove up the road to meet Tom at the store. As we pulled in Tom was loading his van with cameras. This would be our first, but certainly not our last filmed hunt. I’m not sure who was the most excited, Tom or Arianna, but you could feel it in the air. “Almost forgot!” Tom said as he walked back into the store, only to come back out with 3 Penn’s Woods hats. “Christmas in April!!” I thought. We got our new hats on, and drove to the hunting blinds. Let me tell you we wore those hats with pride, they started many a conversation with strangers, and were so worn when retired that you could barely make out the logo. Tom has given me a new one since.

Tom had me drive right to the blind even though I reassured him that I was quite used to pushing Arianna a mile or two through the fields and woods at home. I had borrowed Laura’s cell phone for the trip, and to be able to call her when Arianna got her turkey. Of course I didn’t really know much about cell phones at the time. As we sat in the blind waiting for the sun to come up Laura’s wake up alarm started to go off. My heart sunk, and I didn’t have a clue how to shut it off. I learned by luck that if I opened and closed the lid the alarm shut off. Temporarilly!!! Ten minutes later it went off again. Then ten minutes after that… Tom looked at me and said “You can answer it.” My face was beat red, if there was a frost it would have melted off the blind. I had to tell him it was the alarm and I didn’t know how to shut it off. At the time I was technologically inept. I called Laura and whispered “How do you shut off this alarm?” She laughed and said “What are you yelling at me for?”

I was crushed because I believed I had just ruined our hunt because of my stupidity. Tom called a number of times with no response. Later we saw a hen fly down on the far side of Tom’s property and walked away from us barely giving us a second look. A pair of Canada Geese flew over, and later we watched a doe make her way towards us through the pines. We watched the doe for about an hour as she continued to walk closer, continually looking into the blinds and through our souls.

After no turkey encounters, whether visual or auditory, at 9:00 we decided to wrap it up and try a different spot. Tom got some great footage of Arianna and Tanner gathering up the decoys, and then took a minute to talk into the camera about the hunt. We finished packing up and moved on. Watching the video now, it’s hard to imagine that Tanner and Arianna were once that small.

We followed Tom around as he drove us to some of his favorite turkey haunts. We stopped at one farm for a bit, as Tom spoke to the owner to get a little insight on the local turkey population. Tanner was happy, as there were a number of kittens at the farmhouses basement steps. Luckily none of them came home with us. Tom inquired about the 80+ year old man who lived across the street. The story goes that in the late fall he drives his mower in his lower yard and the deer and turkey are so well trained that they quickly get in line behind the mower to get their corn. By winter the turkeys gobble just at the sound of his garage door going up. They say he yells “Here turkey, turkey,” And the flock comes running. Apparently he was too busy to be our guide for the day, and Penn’s Woods had not yet produced a call to mimic his voice.

Tom’s intention was to set Arianna up in the fence row near his property for the morning. We moved on to do some more scouting. When we got back to the store Tom’s dad Moe told us about the 3 gobbler’s he watched down the road. We hopped back into the cars and drove back down the road. Sure enough, there were 3 longbeards just like Moe said. A plan was struck, and we would be waiting to surprise those turkeys first thing in the morning.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the store. We admired their trophies, learned how to edit film, helped make some calls, played with some calls, and talked with the rest of the family. Tom and Greg’s mom was Frank Piper, the originator of Penn’s Woods, sister. I would bet that she assembled more mouth calls than most of today’s call makers. Moe was free to share story after story. I sort of got the impression that Moe liked to talk, and to be truthful with you, I could sit and listen to him spin yarn after yarn all day long. Greg set Tanner up in the batting cage. Yea, you read that right. The batting cage, doesn’t every turkey call producer have a batting cage in the warehouse?

We ventured back to King’s with Tom and then crashed for needed rest for the next morning’s hunt. After a mid afternoon snooze we watched Tom’s son play little league as we got to meet Tom’s wife and children. We then called it an early night as 4:00 comes early. Two mornings in a row of 4:00 is really early.

Next morning we met Tom at the store and headed to the new spot which was in a valley below a large woods and a hillside of blooming honeysuckle and grey dogwood. The hillside also had a large electric line crossing it, which yielded a wide swath of green clover. Almost sounds ideal for strutting gobblers.

As we set up the blind and unloaded our gear, a woodcock was performing its spring ritual in the valley around us and would land beneath the honey suckle that we chose as our backdrop and call out “peent.” I pointed this out to Tom, and he admitted that he may have heard that before, but that he never knew what it was. I’d bet that a lot of spring turkey hunters have heard the same thing and really had no idea how fortunate they were to be seeing and hearing such a performance. As we called, no gobblers answered back, but we knew that turkeys are creatures of habit and we stood a very good chance of seeing those same 3 before the day was over. The woodcock continued its ritual until the sun started to rise.

We were determined to sit out the entire morning waiting for the turkeys to make their appearance. We would take turns calling with no answer. We would talk about various things, share stories, and for most of the morning I would watch as the rest of my blind mates would dose off. I continued to glass the hillside to no avail. The routine of calling, chatting, and snoozing went on for most of the morning. At one time the kids were awake as Tom snoozed. They thought it would be funny if they could get a picture of Tom Neumann, turkey hunting guru, sleeping in the blind. Just as Arianna was about to snap the picture, Tom woke up and said “Boo!!!” as Arianna nearly jumped out of her chair. We all got a laugh about that for rest of the morning.

Around 9:00 I had to give Arianna her medicine for her kidney failure. Tom looked on as Arianna took all her medicine without a complaint. He talked about how difficult he thought it must be, but I reassured him that we just do what we need to do. As is typical with Arianna taking her medicine she often gets sick. It wasn’t long until everything came up all over her hunting camo. I think we all had varying degrees and types of embarrassment, and there was a long awkward pause of silence as none of us knew what to say. We cleaned up Arianna to make her more comfortable and helped her shed the puked on camo. Once our chore was done, and none of us knew what to say to ease the uneasy feeling, Arianna looked at Tom and said “I’m having fun Tom, how about you?” I watched as Tom smiled, laughed a little, and I think he might have even tried to cover up a tear as he said “Yes I’m having fun too Arianna!!”

We talked a little more about life, called a few more times without answer, and it wasn’t long until my blind mates had dosed off again. I continued to glass the hillside from left to right and from right to left. Many a bush would turn into a turkey as the sun would hit it from a different angle or I would stare at a bush for so long that it would mysteriously turn into a turkey and back into a bush again. I called again without answer and then after all my glassing Tom woke and said “Shh, there’s some turkeys!” Sure enough there were the 3 gobblers making their way out of the woods and through the honeysuckle and dogwood. Tom called and they gobbled a few times. They looked our way, would gobble occasionally, but they never closed to within less than 75 yards. We watched almost helplessly as they made their way across the hillside, gobbling occasionally, looking our way, but never coming any closer. Had Arianna not been in a wheelchair we might have tried to sneak out of there and try to flank them as they made their way down the electric line rightaway. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.

After we loaded up all of our gear, Tom did a wrap up of the mornings hunt. Tanner kept pecking Arianna in the head with one of the turkey decoys as only a pesky 10 year old brother would do. We headed back to the store. I bought a few calls, we visited with Greg, Moe, and Tom’s mom. We ate lunch at the Dairy Queen, and then headed on our way back home.

We continued to maintain close contact with Tom, as he wanted to keep tabs on the rest of the turkey season, and to keep track of Arianna’s health. There was just something about Arianna and Tom’s relationship. If there is such a thing as kindred spirits, I think I see it in both of them.

By the way, Moe got one of those 3 gobbler’s later in the season, as he waited for them to travel up the electric line right away, and Tom took his youngest son, Drake, to the fencerow adjacent the old gentleman’s house, where Drake knocked his hat off his head as he blasted an enormous gobbler that any man would have been proud to harvest.

 The Allegheny Sports and Travel Show was every February at the Monroeville Expo Mart and our plans were to make sure that we were there. As luck would have it Arianna’s hunt with Penn’s Woods was to be televised Sunday morning the weekend of the show. Tom told us to make sure that we watched the show before heading down Sunday morning. Like that took a lot of arm twistin’!! The show aired on Fox at 9:00, and by 9:05 there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. At the end of the show, we quickly packed up and headed south. Tom told me to give him a call as we got closer to Monroeville so that he could meet us with free passes to the show. I had no intention of letting him pay our way in, but I agreed that I would let him know when we arrived.  He would call periodically to check our progress, and as we got closer he called and said to be prepared to be mugged as we entered the show. He said all kinds of people were stopping by the booth and asking about the little girl. He said they all got excited when he said that she would be there in a short while.

When we got to the show, of course I didn’t let Tom know we were there. We climbed in the elevator that opened up right beside the Penn’s Woods booth. We got a lot of curious stares as we came out of the elevator, and just like Tom said it wasn’t long until people started to recognize the little girl in the purple wheelchair. People would stop to shake hands, share stories, and offer words of encouragement. Arianna even had to sign a couple of autographs. I guess a star was born!!

Hunting with Gary

 

January 11, 2014 We took Buddy on his second hunt. It was a cold wet one this morning to say the least. Just after we pulled into the parking lot the sky opened up. It would have been real easy to just shut the tailgate and go back home. But I came to hunt, spend time with my brother, and my dogs!!
 After getting Grace out and collared up; I got Buddy Brittany out, strapped into his wheelchair, collared up, and ready to go.
 
With the cold and the downpour I wasn't expecting to see a lot, but that's why we call it "Hunting!" It wasn't long until we saw points without birds, fast moving tail waggin', and excitement in the dogs demeanors. There were birds, or at least a bird around here somewhere. We came into a patch of Multi-flora Rose and Honeysuckle at the edge of a 70 year old spoil pile. The dogs were about 50 yards apart all looking into the same spot. I saw movement as the bird came sneaking out between them. All 3 dogs held their points as I told Gary the pheasant was coming his way. Just as I was getting ready to release the dogs the bird took to the air and it nearly crashed onto my head as I missed the pic. Buddy quickly ran over for the retrieve, picked up the bird, and carried it for a bit. Sadly he dropped it and I didn't get that pic either.

 We'll work on that. Both the retrieving and the picture timing.

 Buddy Pointing for Gary

 

As we worked around the spoil pile the dogs trapped 2 more birds, but they were grouse, and they don't make their way into the game vest nearly as easily. I was very happy with Buddy's performance, and this was the first time Buddy and Grace hunted together.
 

A wet setter "Grace" following in Buddy's tracks!

 

Sorry for the quality of the pics. My hands were very cold, and my body was very damp.

Buddy with his first bird for us, as you can see he's already bored with it and wants to move on.

I'm not sure, but Buddy may be a child of the '60's. He chose the beanbag over the nice dog bed we bought him!!

The Evans Family at Hatcher's Game Preserve

 

Today, January 12, 2014, we met Ann Spiegel at Hatcher's Game Preserve in Albion to dazzle her with Arianna's gun work and Lia's sparkling personality. I had met Ann through Facebook through a couple of the bird hunting sites, and I'm guessing through Buddy's now new found fame. Ann invited us to join her as she worked her German Shorthair Pointers, and I think she might have been a little curious of Buddy.

Ann had set some birds out for us so that we could watch Buddy Brittany get to work and to try and get Arianna Evans some shots at birds. I may be biased but Buddy works like a machine. He would run, roll over, get put back up, only to get hung up, stuck, or roll back over. Most of us would have said the "The hell with this, let's go watch the football game!" Not Buddy though, there was the smell of birds in the air and he needed to find them.

 

 

We need to work on some things, but Buddy and I are just getting to know each other. I certainly appreciate Ann's invitation and any advice that she offered.

Thankfully I had the whole fam damily along. It's hard to watch and control a dog; Guide, push, and position Arianna through the woods and ready for the shot; Maintain a point while trying to help Arianna with the shot; Get everybody's best side with the camera; And simply enjoy the moment. We all played a role and we all worked well as a family!
Arianna's shots never connected with any birds, so we were not able to shoot any birds over Buddy today. I think we've got time for that though!!
 

After Arianna and Buddy got too cold, Ann got Nitro out to allow Tanner and Lia some opportunities to shoot. Lia was up first. Nitro finally found a lone chukar and it will always remain our secret, and we'll forget as we retell the story again and again, but Lia got her first bird and I think I heard her say "That was cool!"
 

 

Ann got Jesse out next to work him. Both Tanner and Lia shot a quail a piece over him. I think Ann was impressed with their shooting skills and even said that she would like them to come again just to help her work her dogs. I hope I get invited!!!

 

The whole family seemed to enjoy the day. I know Buddy did, by the smile on his face, and I can only hope that Ann did as well.
 

Thanks Ann, and thanks Hatcher's Game Preserve for a great day!!

 

 

Buddy's First Hunt

 










Buddy has captured my soul!!!

 

Today, January 4, 2014, I took Buddy Brittany hunting for the first time. He has only been with us for a short time so I didn't know what to expect. Was he going to just run off?; Would he listen when I called?; Would he just try to do his own thing?; Would he fight with Gary's dog?; or would he just hunt for a little and give up?

 
To say that the hunting was going to be tough would be an understatement. We were hunting for grouse. The toughest and most regal of game birds. Aldo Leopold said "There is two types of hunting; regular hunting and grouse hunting?" I figured if Buddy could handle this, he could handle anything. The snow was about 6" deep and over a foot in others. There was also a thin layer of ice under the snow that made it difficult for me to walk, let alone a dog in a wheelchair. We started off climbing a long, steep hill covered with 20 to 30 year old pines that the grouse often use for cover. Our first grouse, wildly flushed out of one of these pines before man or hound got within 100 feet. Doesn't he know that he is supposed to hide and wait until we get close, let the dog smell and point them, and then flush when I have chosen his escape route and prepared my old Winchester 16 gauge to fire. Why do they rarely follow the script?

Monica Rutt said that occasionally Buddy would get stuck or tip over in his wheelchair and wait. That convinced me that a beeper was in order. I didn't know if he had ever wore a beeper and shock collar before, but he was about to get used to one. As we were climbing the hill through the pines, the climbing got steep at times. There were times that I took a step forward and skied backwards three. Buddy had claws that helped with the ice, but the added weight of the wheelchair and snow made the going tough. One time he just couldn't go anymore and since the beeper goes off when a stationary position is held for about 30 secs., the hawk scream sounded and Buddy was startled. Next thing you knew he had tipped over. Sure enough he just laid there, without a whimper, until I helped him right himself.

 
As we moved from the pines into the poplar and grapevines it was not going to be any easier, but Buddy looked up to the challenge. Another grouse flushed wild, but this looked like a birdy place. I thought I could hear a grouse chirp in the tangle of briars and grapevines. This will come into play later. Gary's dog Jim worked the next bird, but never got a point and hold. I spied the buff color for a brief second as he headed for thicker cover. We worked back through the woods and where I had heard the grouse chirp earlier, one erupted in front of Gary and Jim. As Gary drew and started to squeeze the trigger he slid backwards down the hill. No feathers, no grouse!!

 Buddy got tangled numerous times, flipped twice, but kept on working. When Gary shot I was curious to see Buddy's response. His ears perked up, I watched as he scoured the horizon looking for a falling bird, and I think he smiled. He actually got very excited as we moved on.

 
We moved to a tangle of rose, green brier, and grapevine. Buddy actually went on point at the edge of the tangle as I eased forward. I was starting to put pressure on the safety as I was confident a grouse was about to flush. As I stared into the tangle I heard "Turkey!" I relaxed my grip since this species isn't allowed to make my heart rate increase for at least 3 more months. Still it was a point and a hold!!

I can hardly wait to get Arianna Evans behind Buddy on point. Until then I guess I'll just have to do.

 
The wheelchair made by Eddie's Wheels for Pets held up better than could be expected. Sometimes when he got stuck I made him work through it. Sometimes he backed up; Sometimes he finessed around it; Sometimes he simply bulled through it; And sometimes I just had to lend a hand.

 
Until next time!

 

 

  After a long hunt Buddy convinced me that he deserved some La-Z-Boy time. Years ago I watched a show on the TNN(The Nashville Network) called "Hunting With Hank" with Dez Young. At the end of each show Dez would proclaim to "Never, ever, spoil your birddog!" and since I loved his show and thought that I would love to emulate his life I knew I had to follow his advice. No spoiling here!! I'm just using him to keep my legs warm!

 

 

Arianna



This is a photo of Arianna, Buddy, and I on our first hunt together.
As you can see both Buddy and Arianna are in wheelchairs.

When my wife Laura, who was my girlfriend at the time, was pregnant with Arianna the doctors told us that the child she was carrying would never live through childbirth. Apparently they were wrong!

My favorite Bible verse is John 9:1-3 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should manifest in him.

I'm a firm believer that Arianna was given to us from God so that His works shall be made manifest through her. Anyone who has ever met Arianna can see that there is something special about her. Before she was born numerous doctor's said she would never live. Some suggested we have an abortion; Some recommended that we make her a Ward of the State because we would never be able to handle all of her needs. At the time Laura and I were not firm believers in God, but we prayed for His guidance and that His will be done. Thankfully the doctors were wrong, and God had a plan for all of us. Before Arianna was born we chose the name Arianna, which was defined in the book as; Pure of Heart; Holy One; Sent from God. Can anyone argue the accuracy of her name?

When she was about 12 and was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure, the doctor told us that she probably had less than 6 months to live, my only response was "You don't know Arianna!"

Again God had a plan!!!

In Ezekiel 36:26-27 A new heart also I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take your heart of stone and make it a heart of flesh.

Since Arianna, I have felt my heart turn from stone to flesh. Because of her I have become a better person. Because of her I have seen the works of God work through her. I'm still unsure what God holds for us, but I trust that He knows