On this Memorial Day, I find myself reflecting in an old friend. A gentleman that was once a service man him self. He showed a very high level of respect for service people. This included military, police officers, firefighters, ambulance drivers most every type of first responder you could imagine. Many times, I’d watch this friend of mine go out of his way to approach strangers that were in a uniform. Just to address them with a thank you for their services. Extending his hand to shake their hand, showing them his highest gratitude.
Though this friend was not in an extreme airgunnner. He was one of my biggest fans. He always wanted to see pictures of what I’d shot that weekend or hear about the events I was attending. He always gave me a hard time about not needing to eat of the varmints. And always complimented me for my accuracies.
One year we were having an Epidemic of muskrats on the pond. Every other day, I would come into work. Tell my friend how another muskrat had fallen. He always give me a hard time about not putting them in the freezer and saving them for a lean day. I had always joked with him that I was making him a pair of muskrat leather gloves for a cold winter day.
My friend was especially good at taking old broken stuff apart and fixing it with next nothing for cost. He’d often times scorn me for buying a new switch for my old Bronco rather than just taking the switch apart and fixing it. He always said the stuff had to be built somewhere why can’t you fix it.
On this Memorial Day, I find myself doing just what he would have done. Taking an 35 year old leaking pressure switch off my compressor, part clean all the gunk out of it, resealing it and putting it back together finding myself with a compressor that functions properly with no leak.
My friend passed away a few years ago. But not before he was the guy with terminal cancer who made the 10pm news waving a USA flag up on a bridge for a fallen firefighter as his funeral came by. He died a couple of months after that.
On this Memorial Day I hope you can remember an old friend like I have. Let there memories feel you up and share your experiences.
Mont
