When it comes to lifetime dreams, fulfilling them can be a real challenge. If you are lucky, there is someone out there that can easily make it happen for you, otherwise all you can do is keep trying new things.

It’s not often in life that you can help make someone’s dream come true. You first have to do something that isn’t easily obtainable and typically takes years of knowledge and practice to complete. You then must be able to convey what needs to be done in as simple and short a lesson as possible. This can be a real challenge because in most cases, what you have mastered has taken you many years to learn and you will be expected to pass on all the important and necessary data in a matter of minutes.

Often times you will find that only one important detail will be missed and that one little glitch will cost you your dream. Being thorough with your lesson and having a clear plan as to what needs to be done to succeed is the sign of a good teacher. You must remember you hold someone’s dream in your hands and what you do will likely make or break it. Put yourself in their shoes and give all you would for yourself to give them their best chance of seeing their dream come true.

A few weeks back I was contacted by a man that wanted me to make him a spear. He had a huge stone spearhead that had been begging to be hafted. His name is Eliot Fiks, and for years he wanted the job done but had no idea who could do it. He was able to find myself amongst his friends on Facebook. He lives in Binghamton and owns and operates the Whole in the Wall restaurant on 43 South Washington St.

Rachel and I have been making biweekly trips to Wilson Hospital in Johnson City to make sure our baby is fine, because of some pretty scary complications, so we chose to meet Eliot at his restaurant. Let me say first say, wow. What a meal. Eliot has been in the culinary business for 35-years and it shows. He is a nutritional consultant, which allows him to compose dishes that not only taste great but are also healthy alternatives to fast food. He caters to the whole food, organic, free-range, and handmade market. They also offer eight flavors of pesto that are all handmade and will knock your socks off. Eliot was nice enough to give me several flavors of his pesto as a gift for helping him. I forgot to ask if it comes in a five gallon bucket, because I don’t think it’s going to last long. I highly recommend trying a meal there, just be ready for a flavor explosion.

Upon arrival to the restaurant, we were immediately seated and I asked to see Eliot. He came out to give me the spearhead and in conversation he mentioned that it was his lifetime dream to find an arrowhead. I have found thousands of them over the years and know exactly where to look, so I invited him to join me on a hunt.

Just because you go to the right place to do something, doesn’t mean you will actually be able to complete the task. Looking for arrowheads is one of those things. You must first get an idea of what you are looking for and then have good enough eyes to spot the artifacts. It’s of utmost importance to walk slowly and inspect each and every rock. You have to understand that you will typically look at 10 to 20 thousand rocks before you pick up each point.

Native people were highly religious and regularly made sacrifices to show their respect. In many cases it was something that took time and skill to make, such as stone tools and pottery; the sacrifice is known as killing an item. To follow this tradition, I had Eliot pay his respects before entering the field by killing a handmade clay pipe. Pipes were ceremonial items and were said to carry the wishes and dreams away to their ancestors through the smoke.

After his indoctrination ceremony, we set out. Conditions were poor at best being that the field had been plowed and planted, but no rain had fallen to wash everything off. I showed Eliot what chipped flint looks like and told him to pick up anything made of the material for closer inspection. We made our way to the hot spot in the field and he picked something up for me to look at. To our surprise, it was a broken point. I said to him that if he keeps that up it won’t be long before he finds his first whole point.

Not 20 minutes later I’m looking to the left as he was walking to my right, when he starts yelling and jumping for joy. He had his hand clenched around the item, which added to the excitement for me. When he finally opened his hand, I wasn’t looking at a perfect large stone point, but a lifetime dream come true. Eliot will be 60 on the June 21, and wanted to get the job done before that date. I have to say he did it in stunning fashion and found another nice one also.

Please, if you can easily help someone achieve a lifetime dream, I recommend doing it. I made a great new friend and was able to help him cross something off of his bucket list. As a byproduct, I found my new favorite place to eat in Binghamton. If you are interested in ordering some pesto, or would like to enjoy a fine dining experience, check out their web page at www.wholeinthewall.com.

Good wishes and never avoid the opportunity to make someone’s dream come true.