Chattahoochee National Forest – February 1980

"Dinner's ready boys!" Joel called to his two sons, Jace and Jackson.

"Jace is stuck in a tree!" Jackson shouted back to Joel, laughing the entire time.

"No I'm not!" Jace yelled, obviously struggling to loosen his foot from in between two branches.

Ten year old Jace sat impatiently on the larger limb of a tree while he worked tirelessly to pry his foot free from the confines of two crisscrossed branches. He was climbing the tree earlier on a dare from his older twelve year old brother Jackson, who stayed on the ground watching. Wanting to go even higher, Jace had wedged his foot in between what he thought was a sturdy foothold, but the branches gave way and partially split apart when enough weight was put on them. They had separated and snapped back together like a rubber band, trapping Jace's foot.

"Help your brother down, Jackson," Joel said casually as he removed the skillet from the fire and emptied its contents onto a third plate. He set the hot skillet onto a patch of dirt to cool and brought the plates over to a folding table. "We spent all morning and afternoon fishing; it's finally time to cash in."

"Finally!" Jackson exclaimed. "Food's ready!"

"No fair!" Jace shouted, still working to free his foot. "I wanna eat too! I caught the most fish, so I should…AAAAHHHH!"

Jace finally worked his foot out of the branches and lost his balance on the limb, hurtling to the ground. He threw his hands in front of him and cushioned his fall. Fortunately he had not been able to go as high as he wanted and only slightly sprained his wrist. Joel jumped up and ran to his son's aid, picking him up and carrying him back to the folding table. He carefully set Jace on a chair and examined his wrist. He exhaled sharply when he realized that it was only a sprain.

"Why were you in the tree in the first place?" Joel admonished Jace with a stern glare. He reached for a first aid kit near the table and pulled out some athletic tape. "I told you two to stay close while I got the food ready. If your mother was here we'd all be in some trouble."

"We were just over there, Dad," Jace explained, pointing to the tree he had fallen from some twenty yards away. "Jackson dared me to do it!"

"No I didn't!" Jackson protested loudly from the opposite side of the table. "He bet me he could do it and I said he couldn't!"

"You said 'I dare you to climb that tree to the top,'" Jace countered as Joel wrapped the tape tightly around his wrist, causing him to wince a bit. "Ow!"

"It's what you get for climbing that tree without someone responsible close," Joel said, laughing a bit.

"Dad," Jackson said, "you always treat us like we're still little kids. We're big kids."

"Yeah," Jace agreed. "We can take care of ourselves."

Joel laughed at his sons' statements. It took him back to when he was their age. He thought back to the time he was with his own father, arguing him down for freedom and independence. It was apparently a part of life that was destined to repeat itself as he suddenly found himself in his father's position and his sons in his thirty-five years ago.

"If you say so," he replied in the same way his own father had to him.

The three of them sat down and ate the fish they had worked so hard to catch that day. Joel loved spending time with his two boys, bonding with them. He knew that they would be grown much more quickly than he could realize; he wanted to enjoy as much time with them as he could. He and his wife Tiffany made sure to have a happy and healthy relationship with their kids. She happily stayed behind to have a girls' night out with her friends while the men of the family took a camping trip for the weekend.

"How's the food?" Joel asked his boys.

"Good," Jace answered through a mouth full of fish.

"Real good," Jackson added, giving a thumbs up.

After an hour, the three had finally finished their meal and cleaned up. The sun was beginning to set and they decided to set up their tent before it was too dark. To them, it was the longest twenty minutes of their lives trying to put the tent together, but they managed to get it done just as dusk spread across the sky.

"Let's go find some more firewood for tonight," Joel suggested to his sons. "I don't think we've got enough."

"Cool," Jackson said, running to grab Joel's large ax. "Can I chop down the tree?"

"We'll see," Joel said, smiling as Jackson dragged the heavy tool across the dirt.

Joel, Jackson, and Jace all gathered flashlights as the natural light gradually faded away. They hiked away from their clearing and into the woods, in search of a tree that was not too large, but not too small. They found the perfect sized tree after only a few minutes. It was a tall tree, but had many thick branches that would make great pieces of firewood. Shining his flashlight around the area, Joel found an even smaller tree a few feet away that he felt was appropriate for the boys to chop away.

"Why don't y'all start on this one?" Joel asked, pointing to the young sapling. "Jack, you can cut it down. You and Jace can take turns chopping it up once it falls. Make sure when you swing, Jack, you put your weight into it, like this."

Joel grabbed the ax and motioned for his kids to stand back. They kept their flashlights on their father, watching his movements carefully. Joel twisted the ax around his right side, then pivoted and swung it towards the base of the trunk at a downward angle. Both Jackson and Jace jumped from the earsplitting crash of the ax striking the tree, but they never stopped smiling. Jackson shoved his flashlight into Jace's free hand and ran to grab the ax from his father. Joel guided Jackson's hands so that they were properly wrapped around the large tool. The ax was heavy for Jackson to guide on his own, so Joel supported him as he made his very first swing at the tree. It barely nicked the trunk, but Jackson's face beamed with pride.

"Good job son," Joel congratulated. "Ready to hit it harder?"

"Yeah!" Jackson answered enthusiastically. Jace watched with excitement, waiting for his turn to lay into the tree. He kept the two flashlights on the tree while his brother and father continued to hack away at the trunk.

A faint voice found its way into his ears. Jace loosened his grip on the flashlights and the beams became lost in the rest of the forest. The darkness stopped Joel and Jackson from making any further progress with the tree. With a quick "Hey!" from Jackson, Jace snapped back to the situation and directed the lights back to the tree, allowing Jackson and Joel to continue cutting down the tree. Not too many minutes passed before Jackson and Joel could not see what they were doing again. They looked at Jace, whose silhouette was focused on something else now.