"But Daddy, this Bear's My Friend!"
Part 1 of "The Jeff Stories"
By: Randy McKenzie
It was summertime in the majestic mountains of Northwestern Montana and I was working on a John Deere tractor, getting ready for baling hay on our family farm. I heard my dad hollering, "Do you know where your kid is?"
With Jeff, anything could happen at any time… he was afraid of no one and nothing and had enough energy to keep two grown men on the go just keeping up with his antics.
I shouted back, "No! What's up?"
Dad pointed and said, "Look up in that tree."
Looking over in the apple orchard, I spotted my seven-year old son, Jeff, who was up in an apple tree. Seated on a branch, right next to Jeff, was a young black bear cub! They were both eating green apples.
I barged into the house and grabbed my 270 rifle knowing that mama bear couldn't be too far away. Running up to the apple tree, I called to Jeff, "Son, get down out of that tree right now!"
Jeff cried down, "Don't shoot him, Daddy, he's my friend!"
"He might be your friend, but his mama sure isn't," I called up.
After several attempts to coax Jeff to climb down the tree he finally strapped a leg over the branch and scrambled down. Keeping one eye on Jeff and the other eye watching for the cub's mama, I had to laugh when, at one point, Jeff and the bear cub were nose-to-nose. The bear was climbing down the tree head-first, following his friend.
Taking Jeff by the hand, we walked quickly back to the house before mama bear returned to the orchard.
I always had my hands full with Jeff – he was one of those kids most people didn't know how to relate to. Having known rejection by adults and other kids, he naturally turned to the wildlife… and amazingly, the wild creatures never hurt him!
What I've learned is that no matter how hard things get, even if you've been rejected all your life, there's always something and someone who will accept you. It might be a fuzzy bear, a wild horse, or a mangy dog… so keep your heart open and don't give up!
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Today's story is an installment in "The Jeff Stories" written by Randy McKenzie, as part of his own "Life Story Book". This story is an example of how you can pull just one memory into a very short story, using an image from istockphoto.com, if you don't have one of your own, to bring the memory to life. In a typical "Life Story Book" this particular story would take about one-page.
For more details on creating a Life Story Book, be sure to grab your free "All-in-One" Life Story Book kit available below!
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