I want to post something different, about my shooting partner and life lessons (akin to the OP's title if you will permit me)...he is Dave; 73 years young; suffering from the cumulative effects over 45 years of 5-packs-a-day unfiltered Camel cigarette smoking (quit too many years too late); constant progressive COPD; an Electrical Engineer by degree (same college as me) and OJT; and a clear mind filled with hunting, shooting, reloading, casting, chemistry, and personal history of unparalleled distinction and tragedy. The beach, and the way it was; drag racing on the sand before Daytona; Vietnam; Navy submarines vs. my Coast Guard surface ships; I spend hours and hours listening to him describe the places and times in which he lived, loved, lost; and learned; places and ways in which I grew up too, a generation later; like a Time Capsule - like I had been there too. He has taught me countless life lessons through witticisms, plain-speak, and home spun personal descriptions. We hunt, shoot and dine together as often as possible. I pick him up to hunt, drop him off at "his" stand, retrieve him from the stand when the day is done, tend to his downed game, cast and reload together (lately), and shoot my range together (now), all the time. He helped me get started in reloading through bullet and powder selections, equipment choices, manuals, bargain places, gun smithing, tips, and techniques. He is a boundless trove of treasure. How do you honor such a Mentor? Perfection is not within any of us. I love the man for his imperfections I think. Not that I lack my own, but we are comfortable in the others' presence. Friends is a better way to say it. Good friends and former work associates, as he retired after 36 years and 1 day from the company I have been working with for the past 24 years, with a common passion for guns, shooting, and hunting. To say, "I will miss him when he is gone." is a heart-wrenching understatement.
