Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,789
- 6,036
Dad passed a couple of months ago. Heck of a man, WWII veteran, and is greatly missed by friends and family.
The "sad duty" I refer to is that I spent the last couple of days working with my sister to go through his hunting, fishing, and reloading gear & books and such... My goodness... He wanted me to have all of that.
"Sad" that everything I saw or handled reminded me that he's no longer with us. That of course hurts, but everyone in the family feels fortunate that we had him so long - I mean, I'm no spring chicken and Dad was 30 years older than me! He lived a good long life and died at his home, with family. Couldn't be much better.
Everything I saw or handled also brought back good memories of using that piece of gear with Dad, or seeing him use it... Fly rods & reels. Rifles, shotguns, handguns. The old RCBS press he bought new in the 1970's - it still looks almost new. Thousands of rounds of ammunition.
What I'd kind of forgotten about were all the things I'd given him over the years, decades... A small hunting knife from Norway. Books on hunting, fishing, military history etc.. A Ruger Single Six that he liked a lot. A 4wt trout rod that I had a friend of mine build for him. And apparently he'd kept most of the letters I'd written to him over the years from places like the Persian Gulf 30 years ago, or even just from here at home a few months ago. He liked letters & photos.
His gun collection had dwindled over the years as he sold off this or that. But... I still brought home a number of shotguns, rifles, handguns. I think I'll be keeping most of them. May sell one or two that I've no use for and my son's aren't interested in, but for the most part, they're family guns and will stay family guns.
I may start doing a "This old Gun" series.
Each has a story. We've also handloaded for most of them.
Just musing here over my morning coffee. It was a good trip, only sad a bit here and there.
Regards, Guy
The "sad duty" I refer to is that I spent the last couple of days working with my sister to go through his hunting, fishing, and reloading gear & books and such... My goodness... He wanted me to have all of that.
"Sad" that everything I saw or handled reminded me that he's no longer with us. That of course hurts, but everyone in the family feels fortunate that we had him so long - I mean, I'm no spring chicken and Dad was 30 years older than me! He lived a good long life and died at his home, with family. Couldn't be much better.
Everything I saw or handled also brought back good memories of using that piece of gear with Dad, or seeing him use it... Fly rods & reels. Rifles, shotguns, handguns. The old RCBS press he bought new in the 1970's - it still looks almost new. Thousands of rounds of ammunition.
What I'd kind of forgotten about were all the things I'd given him over the years, decades... A small hunting knife from Norway. Books on hunting, fishing, military history etc.. A Ruger Single Six that he liked a lot. A 4wt trout rod that I had a friend of mine build for him. And apparently he'd kept most of the letters I'd written to him over the years from places like the Persian Gulf 30 years ago, or even just from here at home a few months ago. He liked letters & photos.
His gun collection had dwindled over the years as he sold off this or that. But... I still brought home a number of shotguns, rifles, handguns. I think I'll be keeping most of them. May sell one or two that I've no use for and my son's aren't interested in, but for the most part, they're family guns and will stay family guns.
I may start doing a "This old Gun" series.
Each has a story. We've also handloaded for most of them. Just musing here over my morning coffee. It was a good trip, only sad a bit here and there.
Regards, Guy
