As I mentioned before this would be the longest amount of time that Jace*—- and I spent together since we meet. Three of the four weeks, we spent together night and day. We did well together. There were no disagreements, we were very comfortable together.
Looking back at our time together I now realize that this was the beginning of his downward spiral. You see, when we were together Jace*—- always wanted to make me happy and laugh. I once wrote in my journal, at the very beginning of our journey that he was a man who loved deeply, but suffered silently and walked in pain. He once told me that not many knew him as I did, and that no one knew of some of his history but me. I will keep his secrets to my grave. Ironically, they are not that bad in my opinion but to him it meant something so I will honor him in this till the day I die.
Because he was in between jobs, we got to experience many different opportunities that we hadn’t had the time to do in our other visits. We went fishing at the Butte more than a few times. Actually, he did the fishing, I came along for the great company and for the beauty of the lake. On this visit he had a great day catching fish, but they were all to small. He would take them off the line, explaining what kind of fish they were and then gently released them back into the water. I got some great pictures on that day.
Another time he caught this very big unattractive fish which was not good for eating, but great for bait. The tale that went along with that one was at the top of the fish’s head were what he called, “Redneck Pearls,”. He cleaned them off and handed them to me and jokingly said, “We can start a collection.”
Normally when we would go fishing there, we would be alone. It didn’t seem to be a popular fishing spot. This day there happened to be a young couple who were also fishing. They had a little boy, around 5 years of age with them. Who took an interest in myself and Jace*—-. The couple didn’t seem to have a problem with the little guy’s interest in us. He was a little talker and would ask all kinds of questions about fishing, what kind of fish were they? How did you get the fish on the line and lots more? Jace*—- had a great time answering his questions with much enthusiasm and patience. At one point Jace*—- put down his fishing rod and asked the little boy if he knew how to skip rocks across the lake? The little boy replied no. Jace*—- demonstrated how it was done. The little guy eyes grew with wonder as he saw the rock walk across the lake. He was more than ready to try it. He picked up a good size rock and threw it into the water and watched as it made a plopping sound and sunk to the bottom of the lake. He turned to Jace*—– with confusion in his little blue eyes? Why didn’t his rock skip? Why did it sink. That led to Jace*—- and him finding the right kind of rocks to use when skipping them across the water. After they gathered about 10 rocks they went to the edge of the water and the lesson began. It was magical to see the interaction. It was amazing how Jace*—- was encouraging, telling him not to give up. Before you know it there, they were side by side skipping rocks. It filled my heart with love and joy. Soon it was time for the little boy’s family to leave. He really did not want to go, but with a goodbye and the little boy giving Jace*—- a hug he was on his way. This time together for Jace*—- and this little boy was very meaningful for each of them, only for different reasons. That night over dinner we talked about our fishing trip. Deep emotions came out that evening when Jace*—- mentioned that the little boy reminded him of himself as a child. Always looking for attention and approval from an adult. Hoping they would want to spend time with him. For his adults to be proud of what he had learned and be shown love. It said a lot about my Jace*—-. I was happy they were able to be share that time together.
In those 3 weeks we went to the Art Museum, the mall and on numerous rides to see the layout of the land and above all to view nature, which was always one of our favorite pass times. Two of my favorite animal sightings were when we decided to take a midnight ride on a lonely road out of town. There in the dark in the middle of nowhere was a buck standing in the middle of the road. Truly the “Deer in the headlights moment.” We drove up close to it. It stood steadfast not moving. We turned off the engine and just watched this majestic animal is all of its glory. About 10 minutes later, after the deer was clearly not going to move, we backed up turned around and were on our way back to the apartment.
The other sighting was a one of a kind was of an armadillo. I saw many on the side of the road as in road kill, aka opossum on a half shell. But never did I see one that was alive. Again, it was on a late night drive this time out by Lake Nasworthy. There it was waddling along like nobody’s business. Once it seen Jace’s*—- car it became addled and ran in circles. But happy to saw no harm came to the armadillo that day.
Next Jace*—- starts his new job as time closes with our time together.
Road That Led Me Here 
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