You don’t often see “Fisherman/Survivor” used together. It’s difficult to see how they are connected. Every September, for the last several years, I have been making a weekend trip to South Dakota’s beautiful Black Hills to go fly-fishing with my life-long friend, Gary Jensen, he is “A Fisherman/Survivor”.  Generally, Gary spends his time fishing and I spend my time untangling my line from area trees and bushes while the fish swim by.

A couple of years ago, I wasn’t sure if I would ever make the trip again.  Gary had been diagnosed with esophageal-cancer and the prognosis wasn’t good.  Fortunately, his Mayo Clinic doctors were VERY GOOD.  Gary says his doctors say his recovery is a miracle and he is now cancer-free assuring this year’s fishing trip was back on.

Needless to say, Gary had better luck surviving cancer than I did catching trout in Rapid Creek.  For some unexplained reason I had brought my video camera along and I thought I might find better fortune catching Gary’s story than his fish…and I did.