Looking back, it was probably a pretty lame question to ask a trio of champion archers, but I had to start someplace. “So how fast does the arrow travel?” I asked Stu, Scott and Sara Henderson as they gathered bows, arrows and other paraphernalia out of their truck to prepare for our FACES photo shoot in the backyard of their Spearfish Canyon cabin.
It was a warm day, typical of mid-summer in the Northern Black Hills, sun shining one minute and light rain showers the next. I had decided to take advantage of a rainy interlude to get some preliminary questions out of the way.
“I can figure that out,” Stu said. “Can I borrow your pen and a piece of paper?”
I watched in amazement as the retired Navy fighter pilot plotted out a mathematical equation–complete with x’s, fractions and equal signs. The pen scratched across the paper for a few moments and he was done.
”Mine is 191 miles per hour, Scott’s is 204 and Sara’s is 164,” Stu said, with a satisfied nod.
Daughter Sara and son Scott exchanged knowing smiles but kept silent. With four teenagers of my own, I am well versed in the nonverbal communication of teens—the eye-rolling, the head shaking, the here-we-go-again expressions. Which is why I zeroed in on Scott’s and Sara’s expressions. What was this? Respect? Admiration? High schoolers actually thinking their dad was cool?
This exchange provided my first glimpse of the bonds within the Henderson family. There would be more to come, and collectively they would explain not only why these three would pick a sport they could enjoy as a family, but also why they made the tough decision a couple of years ago to leave the military life and their home in Oregon to move back to the Northern Hills where Stu grew up. It’s a story of sacrifice and choices. Mostly, it’s a story about what it means to be a family.
By Beth Palmer
(Read the rest of this story in FACES Fall ‘09)
