It's early Sunday morning and I'm afraid to go out and turn on my cell phone!
One of the first people I met when I moved here in 1997 was my dear friend, Morlan Buck. He is a retired Senior Cheif from the Navy, and loves to tease me about my being in the Marines. Buck and I became good friends when I decided to stop at his house (because I was new in the area and kept seeing him out working in his boat garage) to see if he would give me some local fishing tips.
Buck and I have spent many hours on the lakes of NC over the past 13 + years. We fished in a couple of clubs in the late 90's and early 2000's until his cancer surgery's made getting up early in the mornings almost impossible to him. We still managed to fish quite often, mostly at Lake Reese, but always going later in the mornings.
Over the years, Buck taught me a lot about fishing. He guided me in the use and proper selection of rods, which powers worked best for different lure selections, and which reels worked best due to line retrieval. He also was the predominant teacher in teaching me to put stuff back where they came from, hence I no longer spend time looking for a certain lure or rod in my rod box.
About 5 years ago, his PSA (prostate numbers) started to spike and his cancer Dr. suggested he have his testicles removed. You see, they produce testoserone, which helps the spread and growth of prostate cancer. Buck had the surgery, which has given him the 4-5 extra years of life he wanted.
Buck hasn't been out fishing for over three years. Myself and a couple other good friends have tried and tried to get him out in his boat, if only just for a short ride and maybe a cast or two, but his health problems, mostly balance issues, kept him sidelined and he resisted going out.
He's been "turned over" to Hospice by his cancer Dr. at Duke, and has spent the last four weeks at Palliative Care or Hospice in GSO. Thursday, his wife made the decision to bring him home to spend his final days in his castle.
I went to his home yesterday to get his boat and truck, to take them out and run them. The Hospice nurse was there as I left to run his stuff. When I returned later in the afternoon, his wife informed me that Buck's body was shutting down. I was able to speak with him for a moment, to let him know that everything was running just fine, and that I would continue to take care of everything until he got better.
You see, I'm afraid to turn on my cell phone because I'm afraid there's a message on it that says it's over. I just hope and prey that call never comes.
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Tony Armstrong 
