These are the stories in life the world needs to hear more of. My father was the oldest of 4 boys and basically wound up raising his siblings. Had to leave country living to make a living back then. He helped his brothers all get started in life, and each one would tell if if weren't for him they don't know what they would have done.
I never had any children (that I'm aware of) and only one brother. He fathered a son who was born when I was 18. Sadly, the marriage fell apart within 2 years. Formers sister in law wound up marrying and moving to the other side of the state. So, I seldom got to see my lil buddy as much as I would have liked to. When he was about 8 years old and in for a week long visit, he came down to the barn to see what Unka was up to? I was sitting at my reloading bench rolling up some .44 Magnums for a S&W Model 29 with a 6.5" barrel. He got some kind of excited to find out a person could make their own ammunition. His step father was a good man, just not a hunter or much into fishing. The boy was already into the Boy Scouts and went the full mile and became an Eagle Scout. I asked if he'd like to try reloading a shell? He lit up and it was on! I told him about light loads, medium and full house loads. I let him load up 3 light loads and 3 mediums. We stepped out the back of the shop and I stood behind him. He's was a good size kid, and grew into big ole' boy. Any way, I loaded the gun up with the 3 light loads, 2 medium and one full house he was aware of I had in my pocket. All went well and when it was time to trigger the full house, I hadn't warned him but told him to be sure to get a good hold on the gun. I stepped up to with a foot behind him and he let loose. It pushed him back into my chest but he was still holding on. He just sort of stood there a couple of seconds not moving. Then he turned his shoulder and head back, looked up at me with a huge grin and said...FULL HOUSE! I can still see it in my mind when I think back on it. When he became of age, I gifted him with a 1911. He's grown to be a fine young man. We have running joke about how I'm his favorite uncle and he always replies with, well...it's because you're my only uncle.
Wolfdog91, you ain't ruined him. You've given him a passion that he not only loves, but it'll feed him if need be.
Well done Uncle Wolf!
Murphy