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and focus. I am convinced that his desire mattered, that it made a difference in his recovery. Day by day Rob improved. His pic line and IV were removed. Then, the drain was taken out. He regained his appetite and a little strength. With four days left in the season, he claimed he was ready. He was not deluding himself, or me. We both knew it would have to be a short hunt, maybe just one day. And no long walks or climbing. But he was determined to go, and I was just as determined to go with him. We drove to Cabool, Missouri, on Thursday, May 7, arriving in mid- afternoon. I was able to show Rob the area where my friend, Roger Lindsey, and I had been hearing and seeing a bird all season. The gobbler liked to roost at the head of a hollow adjacent to a big clover field. Most mornings he and some hens could be seen in that same clover field. After a slow and thorough reconnaissance, we stashed our decoys and made a blind for the next morning. We have spent many the problem. They sent him home on April 20, with the drain in place, as well as a pic line and an IV for antibiotics. A pril 20, 2015, was a significant date. The fact that Rob came home on opening day of Missouri's spring turkey season meant something to both of us. It signaled hope, and we each clung to it. I cannot say that the timing of his release adjunct to the opener was causative, but he began to improve on that Monday. The drain was working, the antibiotics were working, and he started to talk about getting out in the woods. At first, it was hard for me to see it. Rob had lost 60 pounds. He was extraordinarily weak. Words are not sufficient to describe what he endured. And yet he maintained that he wanted to go. The turkey season lasts three weeks in Missouri, and I agreed we would try it once the drain and the IV were removed. His simple declaration, "I want to go, Dad . . . ," became our fuel. From that moment we had purpose accumulated in his abdomen, but they were confident that the operation would be successful. He was a long way from wellness, but we could finally see it on the distant horizon. That horizon turned out to be quite distant. The surgery went well, capturing almost 90 percent of the diseased material, but the recovery was agonizingly slow, fraught with setbacks and complications. Still, seven weeks after being admitted, he was finally discharged from the hospital. While his discharge was welcome, it was not the end of his struggle. Ten days after he left the hospital, he was re- admitted with a persistent fever. Another week in the hospital, another discharge; two more weeks at home and another re-admission. This time his pain had increased and he was unable to keep any food down. As a result, he was severely malnourished and anemic. Finally, they inserted a drain in his abdomen and began removing the last of the still-infected fluids that were causing laughing in the rain Continued from page 105 S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S • 159