I sure miss them !

[Flagmanonice]

[] Does anyone have a friend or love one that has passed , or you just don't get to do the things you used to do with them ? I just read a response from Lou, and just had a call from my brother who just lost his father-in-law tonite. It gave me this idea how much a person is missed . If you would, please tell us about this influence in your life, that way we all can enjoy them !!!

Flagmanonice...........................Memorial Day , 2003
[signature]

[davetclown]

[size 3]For this one I will have to dig back about 20 some odd years.[/size]

[size 3][/size]

[size 3]There was once a man who lived on a lake near me[/size]

[size 3][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]I first met this man at a polish catholic wedding, With no sons of his own, he had taught all 5 of his girls to fish. [/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Yes he was a family man, I say was because he has been passed for nearly 20 years now. But not with out leaving me with his best fishing tips and his most productive spots for catching deep water roaches (Giant Blue Gills)[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]He had an interesting outlook on life, calm and serene for the most part, one that came with life’s experience. There was nearly a 50-year difference in our ages, yet he could find the patience to set with a young buck of 18 year and show him a thing or two.[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]I had played hundreds of hours of pinochle with him on the many nights in his log cabin with his wife to pass the time before we sacked out to rest for the early morning fishing trips.[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]We would head out before days morning light. Walking down to the lake where his boat had been tied down for 30 years we could hear the whippoorwills singing their lonesome song in the pre dawn. (The street we walked down to the lake is justifiably named after these birds) I was excited and in much of a hurry to get down to the lake to start hooking in to them tasty gills. He said slow down, there is no hurry to get down there, and the fish are not going anywhere and will be there when we get there. He stepped out the back door of the pre civilization log cabin that time had forgotten, walked out to the end of the drive way and peered down at the lake, drew in a deep breath and looked up towards the sky and said we will have a good day today. [/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]The chill still in the air and the mist would begin rising off the lake creating a light mystic fog that gave this populated lake a sense of isolation and magically time felt as if it were thrown back a hundred years as we rowed out on to the lake as the lights and houses gradually disappeared with each stroke of the oars.[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]The clean cool crisp air was moist with the fog as it grew heavier and every thing was getting wet from the dew left behind the fog as it bumped against every thing in the boat, large beads of dew rolled down the sides of the heavy 17 foot aluminum row boat. Even the seats we sat on were getting wet and uncomfortable. We did not seem to mind because in just a few minutes we would be catching deep-water roaches. [/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Five minutes after we cast of from our mooring point we were dropping off anchor. Matching our exact spot by measuring the depth the anchor went down according to the pre measured knot on the rope that had been tested true time and time again for nearly 30 years he said. I found it amazing that he could hit a spot out in the middle of the lake in the fog with no lights or landmarks to go by.[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Assuredly as soon as we dropped anchor the first morning light started peering its rays burning off the fog as it began its decent back on to the lake from once it came.[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]We cast out, and as soon as the hook hit the water, the action was on. Throwing back any gill under 9 inches we had a blast attempting to make our limit of 50 gills apiece. (Legal limit for that period of time) We sat there for nearly 3 hours catching and releasing hundreds of gills that I normally would have kept if I were on my own or with some one else. The time seemed to last forever yet vanish in mere seconds from the time we set out on the lake, it was time to go back in.[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Our limits met, with a few straggler varieties of perch and bass that passed by our way, we went back in. scaling and then filleting our catch we would be done before 10 am and had a couple hours to kill playing pinochle before the tigers game came on air on the radio.[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]We listened to the game, as Mark The Bird Fidrich would stair in to the sky to watch the air plains flying over the stadium. And we knew for a fact that if they threw Hernandeze in to the game as a relief pitcher for the bird, the game was lost, no matter how many runs we had over the opposing team. A few choice words were said about our displeasure of sparkies decision, and a couple swallows of our at that time local beer Stroh’s. [/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]We would then set out to the side of the house to pitch some shoes. His family would soon arrive to help discard of the days catch, bringing tidbits form home, cheesecakes, pies, cookies, melons, and yes more Stroh’s Beer. Teams were drawn and we would pitch shoes till the gills were done. [/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]This mans wife would catch clean and cook these gills, she would even help clean the gills even if she did not go out to help catch them. Not to mention that she is a wiz at pinochle and would give you a run for your money.[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Though we did not rush for one minute the whole day, I did more on that one day than I had ever done on any given day of my life up to that point.[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]His philosophy on life was to never hurry; god will give you all the time you need to do what it is that he wants you to accomplish in your life. Life is too short to rush through it and if it has to be rushed, to be finished, then it in not the lords will.[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]I have noticed this statement to be true time and time again in my life; time would literally stand still as I labored on my production jobs. And should I be wasting my time, the hours passed me swiftly by, leaving me to wonder where the time went.[/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]So now whenever I head out to fish on his lake I look in to the sky and peer at the lake and now can I see what he saw and I know what the day will bring. I take a moment to remember this man that I now and then revered as my grandpa Dean and ask for his forgiveness, because of the last words that came out of my mouth to him were cross words. Hurting words said out of grief and pain, words not really meant, but were the last words I spoke to him while he was alive. And then I pray to god that he hears my words and knows that they had nothing to do with him. And that I appreciated and cherished the time he spent with me, and every thing he had taken the time to teach me. [/font][/size]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][/font][/size] [center][size 3]The hardest lesson he taught me was to never leave those you cherish and love in bitterness, because you really never know when it is the last day you will ever have together. [/size][/center] [center][size 3]Carrol Dean was a survivor of Pearl Harbor[/size][/center] [center][size 3]He died nearly 20 years ago of cancer of the lungs.[/size][/center]
[signature]

[lou]

DEAR DAVE, THAT WAS AN INSPIRIN LOVIN STORY AND SO TRUE. i hea ya! but please don,t worry, grampa HEARS AND KNOWS THE WAY YOU TRUELY FEEL. HE SOUNDED TO ME THRU WHAT YOU SAID TO HAVE THE WISDOM TO UNDERSTAND, THAT AGE AND LEARNIN AND GROWIN COMES WITH TIME, AND I BELIEVE HE HAD THE COMPASSION OF A GRAMPA WITH ALL THE KIDS AND LIFE HAD TAUGHT HIM. IT WAS JUST TIMIN. HE KNOWS. I LOVED IT AND AS FER AS SLOWIN DOWN, TAKIN LIFE AS IT COMES AND NOT RUSHIN THAT,S THE WAY MY GRAMPA WAS TOO. MAYBE SOME OF THE DRIVERS ON THE ROAD OUGHT TO THINK THIS WAY. HAHA! WE WENT TO NEWYORK FER JACK,S DAUGHTERS GRAUATION AND I WAS NEVER SO HAPPY TO GIT HOME! HAHHA TAKE CARE LOU
[signature]

[lou]

dear flag! i,m sorry to hear bout your brothers father in law. and hope brother gits thru it ok, it,s always hard to loose someone. and i believe those older than us there,s a special bond even if it,s only fer a little while. their wisdom is passed down to us, well, i guess i,m crazy bout my gramp/ he was more father and gramp to me than anyone i,ve ever known in my life. he was the type of man that he didn,t say much, UNLESS IT WAS HIS STORIES, HAHA, but when he said it he MEANT IT AND IT WAS TRUE, AND HONEST. HE was an old vermonter grew up in the hills of strafford. took care of the justin morgan horses here when he was a boy, and lloved them as i do. he had a pair of belgiansON HIS FARM,that stood 19 hands, that almost 10 ft. from their fetlock the whithers. fetlock it just above the hoof to the top of their mane.one was a mare, the other a geldin all white. that was old tom. bigger than most, especially FER drafts. BELGIANS, fer ther breed. but old tom lived to be 38 years old in our years, and grampa loved that old horse. my motherand her 3 sisters use to ride old tom all at once WITH NO SADDLE OR BRIDLE, and i still have hte picture of them on him.gramp went to the first world war, came home with shell shock whitch left him with epilptic spells, so mom would always tell me to stay away from gramp cause he might have one. well, if ya git a drift of ME, HAHA, I WOULD NOT STAY AWAY FROM MY GRAMP. AND I KNOW MY GRAMP UNDERTOOD THIS AND THOUGHT ALL THE MOREOF ME. HAHA the other cousins of mine never wanted to know gramp so i was his one and only. to him i guess. i guess they werescared gramp would have a spell and listened to their mother, i couldn,t. i loved listenin to gramps stories of fishin and huntin, i,d sit at his feet just takin it in. it seemed kind of funny cause gramp was tellin me these stories not visitin with my mother and father the way adults visit when ya go see em. haha he,d stop and i,d say more gramp. hha how ma,d git hot! haha but old tom was his pride and joy, the mare too but tom RULED! GRAMP HAD THOSE EPELEPTIC SPELLS AND WHEN THEY WERE OUT IN THE WOODS workin timber, GRAMP WOULD FALL IN BETWIXT THE HORSES AND TOM WOULD MAKE SURE THE MARE WOULD NOT MOVE. TOM AND HER WOULD STAND THERE UNTIL GRAMP WAS OK AND GOT UP. SOMETIMES FER HOURS, THAT,S WHY gramp LOVED HIM SO. TOM WOULDN,T LET ANYONE NEAR GRAMP. SO WHEN TOM GOT OLD, GAMP FIGURED HE WOULD give old tom THE Life HE DESERVED as long as he could without sufferin.and at the end, gramp was feedin tom groule because he had no teeth,and it killed a part of gramp when he had to have the neighbor over to put him down in the hole gramp dug for hiim. in the top pasture of his farm. gramp said his good bye to old tom, and tom knew gramp said. he saw it in his eyes, as i did with patches james, i guess we all have our own guilts and i guess this was gramps.mine too. but gramp had a love fer his animals and brought it down to me. i can remember when i picked my ponies out, and i take pride in what gramp taught me bout horses, and the love fer em, and understandin, and i feel proud to OF learned from the best cause what gramp told me when i brought my litte girl, bombfire peggy jo home, still Sticks in my head, YOU GOT AN EYE FER YOUR PONIES GIRL./ AND THAT MEANT ALOT TO ME. all the love wisdom understandin of life and THE LOVE OF LIFE, I LEARNEDD FROM MY GRAMPA, AND IT STAYS WITH ME EVERYDAY I BREATHE, AND KNOW HE,S WITH ME WHEN I,M RIDIN THE HILLS WITH MY PONIES FISHIN HUNTIN, RUNNIN MY HOUNDS, HE,S THERE WATCHIN OVER ME, AS MY RED TAIL HAWK IS. THANKS FLAG. SOMEAY I,LL TELL YA OF GRAMPS HUNTIN DAYS AND FISHIN! HAHA LATER MARE.THANK GOD FER MY SON TOO CAUSE I PASSSED THE OLD OCTOGON BARREL 30-30 DOWN TO HIM, THAT WAS GRAMPS AND ALSO THE STORIES GRAMP TOLD ME. SEE HOW IT WORKS HAHA [cool][][][laugh]LATER HAVE FUN NO MATTER WHAT YA DO!
[signature]

[Flagmanonice]

Dave and Lou , Both of your stories kept me glued to the screen ! , The love for your lost one was deeply felt each time you told about their doings , and their teachings that they past on to you , and then you passing them on down to your friends and loved ones. I think in each story we read , we see ourselves in a simalar situation sometime in our own lives , with so many people involved. I , myself, hav'nt lost a parent , or anyone that was that special person in my life, My grandpas both died when I was too young to remember much, but I have a man that I would almost call my gramps , let me tell you about him ! His name is Fred , a Quiet, but very talkable man of 84 . Fred grew up near Nimrod Minnesota where his father was a farmer/logger back at the turn of the century. He told me of the hard times they encountered back when he was a kid, and how they moved to Oregon to find a better life. It wasnt long before they moved back to the better life they knew before back in Nimrod. He told me how his dad took him over to the other side of the creek, just to show him a pair of deer tracks ! you see, there wasnt many deer around and that was the first track he saw at the age of 12 ! He told me of the big fire that had started 150 miles away , and burnt all the way down to S.W of Nimrod, he showed me trees that were scared by the fire , and about the elk antlers that were found when they opened up a new field for the first time. I got to meet Fred about 6 yrs ago , back when I was looking for places to hunt bear , and since then, we've become good friends. I feel guilty now thinking about it, that I see him almost everyday during the fall , but my work and family keep me away for the rest of the year , except for those once in awhile visits when I'm up that way ! One of these days , I'm going to get a phone call , and his wife will tell me that he is gone, and I will regret that I should have made time for my friend that I considerd my gramps ! But from your stories Dave and Lou , Im going to make a point of visiting Fred more often, Thanks for opening my eyes before it was to late !!!

Flagmanonice.................P.S..... Yesterday, while visiting my in-laws grave site, My daughter asked me why there was some stones that had no flowers, we explained that maybe they did'nt have family living close by , or that all their family and friends were in heaven too ! She came back and said that it would be nice if next year, everyone in our family would pick someone that doesnt have flowers , and we each (adopt , my term ) would bring flowers to them every year . We could do research and find out more about this person and get to know something about each one !!
[signature]

[lou]

hey there flag, hope don,t mind me callin ya that, but there,s somethin i think hits it right the nail on the head. hhahwell look at it this way, at least ya hear what we,re sayin, that ya learned somethin from us, that,s what friends do, that,s what life is is heppin livin learnin lovin, from each other. SO DO IT!! IF HE MEANS THAT MUCH YOUNG MAN THEN DO IT AND TELL HIM! HOW MUCH YOU CARE BEFORE IT IS TOOOOO LATE! i hope ya do dub. cause there is nothin more importatant you,ll do in the rest of your life. lifes tooo short not to tell the ones we love just how much their loved. there isn,t a dy goes by when i see my son that he doesn,t tell me he loves me when he leaves me and it feels good! and i feel proud to have him for my son. if i did anythin right in this life, it was him! and thank god he gave him to me. i wouldn,t of made it without him and i know it,as now. that also was a good story, so hear it feel it do it! god,s love mare[][cool]
[signature]

[lou]

that also was aood idea of puttin flowers on their graves. i still say, there,s more to life than livin lovin and diein, god just wouldn,t allow us not to let us watch over the ones we love, that would be cruel, and my god the god of nature, the god of life who gives all would not be that cruel. i know. it feel it, that,s why he gave us A SOUL. THEY,LL THANK YA FOR IT SOMEDAY. []
[signature]