Funerals Suck

L

LASER

Guest
All,
About three years ago,Ted Smith, my friend and gunsmith started exploring extreme accuracy as opposed to the damn good hunting guns he built for years. I started lurking about the forums and reporting what I read to him. This led to me building him a pc and making him “computer literate” to the extent that he was able to get to all the forums. He also started ordering parts and selling guns online. As things go he built us “groundhog guns” which we shot at the local events for several years. His first gun on a br stock was leading at points at St. Thomas PA groundhog shoots when he got sick. Friday nights at the shop with him and me and a bottle of something distilled were what we looked forward to and did for a couple of years. Saturdays was always a shoot somewhere. I figured out that next to the people at work and my wife, I spent more time with him than anyone else by far. As a tribute to him one could go on about the marvelous work that he did over the years but that is probably a disservice. He had a long deep abiding love and interest in guns. This led him to be a Everyday Gunsmith. You guys all know or probably knew one of them. They fixed it all and went broke doing it. He would have been a contemporary of the Goodling, Spencer, Green et all kind of builder had he gotten into it earlier in his career. We buried him yesterday. Don’t know what else to say. Yesterday at the funeral when I should have stood up and said all this I choked.
LASER
 
Sorry for your loss.

I had the same experience with the same sort of gunsmith nearly 50 years ago. I still think about him.

We all should be grateful to the old timers who got us started.
 
times pass...

I lost a very good friend of mine in 1993. He was a true jarhead. If he just heard that, he knows I meant it as a compliment.

I'm sure your friend understands.
 
Laser, I know how you feel; I've been there. Don't worry about 'choking' under such circumstances; it is a perfectly normal reaction to such loss and pain. It just shows how much you care.

It would be nice if we could all be pillars of stone at such times and boldly state what we feel in our hearts, but there are many of us who cannot. I am thankful there are those who can. God bless you my friend.

GeneBeggs
 
Well you said it now.........GOOD on ya'.


We lost my father-in-law this last year, an old school tool and die man from MI.


Yup, funerals suck. Keep your head up. :)


al
 
I'm down wit dat

Laser, Not tryin' to sound like a shrink, but my huntin' buddy lost his life to cancer last year. How I deal with the loss is to keep his memory alive by sharing our experiences. He was a hoot and had the most awesome sense of humor. His wife insisted that I get up and say something at his funeral. I would have rather disembowel myself with the broken edge of a busted beer bottle, but I did it. We all laughed as we cried as I shared stories about him and some of our foolishness. We ended up celebrating his life rather than mourning his death. The deeper you care for someone the tougher the loss. You obviously have committed a large part of yourself to your friend. I'm sure he enjoyed your friendship and committted an equal amount back to you. I think if you exercise the same commitment to the people in your life you that are around you, the things that have come out of that friendship will not pass away but be passed on and enrich other lives as well. He would appreciate that and the friendship you shared would not be in vain. God bless you for being that kind of friend. So raise your glasses and let's share a toast in honor of our friends,"Here is to all of us and those like us....cause there's damn few left." Stay Safe, Doug
 
tools, memories,etc

Thank you all for your kind replys!

Doug Knowles, I just got back from doing more than that. Ted,s widdow, son and went into the shop for the first time since before the funeral. Things were as he would have had them but only him, for the most part. I showed her where we each sat and told stories and made connections to events that she would recall. It helped. Left to me is the chore of justifying his log book. Some of this was done while Ted was still lucid but quite a memory maker none the less. I am returning stuff to it's owners etc. and each customer has a different memory and story. Quite an emotional event which will go on for a while. Rummaging thru tools and rooting around seeing things that I used over the years to do something simple ( mostly scope ring lapping )was a real memory factory. I hope this is appropriate here, but I am going to have to help move his stuff. Only gun guys would be interested. A new Grizzly Gunsmith lathe, another small lathe, mill machine and two drill presses plus all the tooling, reamers etc. Suggestions on how to get this stuff in front of those interested would be appreciated. Thanks again men!
LASER
 
LASER said:
Thank you all for your kind replys!

Doug Knowles, I just got back from doing more than that. Ted,s widdow, son and went into the shop for the first time since before the funeral. Things were as he would have had them but only him, for the most part. I showed her where we each sat and told stories and made connections to events that she would recall. It helped. Left to me is the chore of justifying his log book. Some of this was done while Ted was still lucid but quite a memory maker none the less. I am returning stuff to it's owners etc. and each customer has a different memory and story. Quite an emotional event which will go on for a while. Rummaging thru tools and rooting around seeing things that I used over the years to do something simple ( mostly scope ring lapping )was a real memory factory. I hope this is appropriate here, but I am going to have to help move his stuff. Only gun guys would be interested. A new Grizzly Gunsmith lathe, another small lathe, mill machine and two drill presses plus all the tooling, reamers etc. Suggestions on how to get this stuff in front of those interested would be appreciated. Thanks again men!
LASER
Click to expand...
Sad to say but be cautious. There will be many scavengers trying to pick his bones and buy stuff for 10 cents on the dollar. If you don't know the value of things you could take a picture of the item and post it here. I'm sure somebody will recognize it for what it is and be able to place a realistic value on it. I've already started getting my stuff ready for my son when it comes his time to sort through my shop even though I plan on being here and gunsmithing at least another 10 years, Lord willing.
 
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