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Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1308 Location: Western WA

Lost a friend suddenly two years ago this month. A fellow shooter but neither a hunter nor scattergunner. He understood me and enjoyed following my various activities, including my 16 ga pursuits.

If he learned of even a modest achievement of mine, he applauded it and reveled in my success. He even pointed out my accomplishments when I was unable to see them. My failures and disappointments were met with compassion, and my fears were calmed by his wise and discerning counsel. He always demonstrated deep affection for my family.

I never heard him utter a complaint, even in his final days. But now he’s gone, and I would gladly give all my worldly goods to have him back. Socrates said “There is no possession more valuable than a good and faithful friend.” How true we find that to be.

V/R
B.

Guest

Good friends are precious. Sorry you lost a gem.

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1377 Location: Denver, Colorado

A timely post. My brother-in-law was killed last Sunday in a freak motorcycle accident. We'd exchanged photographs of big fish we'd caught only the week before in separate vacations (I was with my family in North Carolina, he was with friends, fishing a spot I'd introduced him to in Wyoming). A retired State Trooper and a consumate gun nut, he was good with any ordinance you placed in his hands and we chased birds and deer and trout together for many years. Now he's gone (way too soon, at only 54!) and I'm grappling with that reality, as is his wife and their daughters. I expect that two years from now I wont feel any better about it.

I wouldn't exactly say that our friends define us (although in many ways they do), but they certainly enrich us beyond words. Those shared memories and moments make up the best part of our days (afield & otherwise). To lose a very good friend is almost like losing a part of yourself. The void left behind is so-hard to fill (& there is always an ache that remains). The lesson here is that you must treasure the friends that still abide you.

Gentlemen,

Socrates was a wise man, his words still ring true today. Most people have few actual friends. Brewester11 you were very lucky to have had him as long as you did. I lost my closest friend back in 1984, nothing much has been the same sense the loss.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man