Though we don't comprehend it as children, the years honestly do go by faster the older we get. 2010 seems to have gone by in a blur, yet there are moments that are as vivid in my mind as if they were happening right now as I type this.
The year began with me running back and forth to hospitals and nursing facilities following my mother's stroke. Those six months between her stroke and eventual passing, I spent very little time at my workbench.
My brother, Fermin Garza (and many other dear friends), was close by me in spirit during that trying time. After mom's passing, he and many others helped create a tribute to my mother in the form of The Mary Gun; a 4" S&W model 29. This special sixgun is a treasured heirloom that will be passed down to my boys. The ivory stocks, carved in the pattern of Elmer Keith's by Bob Leskovec, feature the initials MB for my mother.
Being a sixgunner is a rare thing, and finding others close by with the same interest is difficult at best! I was blessed with becoming friends with fellow sixgunner Jeff Hoover. During my mother's illness, Jeff, having gone through his own mother's passing just a short time before my mother's stroke, made daily calls to offer encouragement and advice. Jeff lives just a few short hours from me, and I had the pleasure of meeting him in person last year. Jeff presented me with a challenge coin and a pocket knife for both me and my son Ethan. Over the next few months, other packages would arrive with Jeff's return address. Bullets, books and American Rifleman magazines with articles by Elmer Keith made their way to me. To say that Jeff is large is an understatement! His physical size is equally matched, if not surpassed, by his generosity. I nicknamed him ‘Tank’, (although Fermin pronounces it ‘Stank’!), and I think it fits!
Late in the summer, I visited our own Dick Thompson and Steve Call. Since my stay was going to be short, Dick had a fast and furious schedule planned for us that included a trip to the Freedom Arms factory in Freedom, Wyoming, and a drive to Boise for a visit with Mr. and Mrs. John Taffin, and then a few hours were spent in awe at the Elmer Keith Museum. We did a lot of sightseeing, shooting and eating! Getting to meet Steve and Betty was a true highlight! Steve presented me with a Callshot Fan Club hat and a walking stick he had made, both the perfect companion to the Callshot vest that Tank sent me before the trip! A few days after I arrived, Tank and Samantha flew in for a visit with the famous duo of Soda Springs! We spent our only full day together shooting and sightseeing, which ended with me getting to take a badger with the Mary Gun. What a great ending to an extra special trip! As Dick said, it was the icing on the cake!
Tank invited me to his home in Maryland for the opening day of their deer season. The Friday after Thanksgiving, I loaded my truck up and made the 3 ½ hour drive to Poolesville. Jeff, his wife Camille and daughter Samantha made me feel right at home. I was treated to a fantastic dutch oven dinner, complete with huckleberry cobbler dessert! The following day found us in the woods for 12 hours. We watched the sun rise and set, and enjoyed the tranquility of time in the woods with a good sixgun. While the deer I saw were too far for me and the Mary Gun, it was a most memorable day! Tank taking a doe with his 475 Linebaugh made it all the more special!
A chapter of my life ended in 2010, yet so many others began. Through the blur of time, snapshots of moments are burned into your memory forever. I look forward to 2011; plans are already made with Dick, Fermin, Tank, good friend Glenn Swaggart and others. Tales will be told, sixguns will be shot and memories will be made. I am spending the start of this new year working on my backlog, and to all my customers who are patiently waiting, THANK YOU!
Back in August, while having lunch with Dick and JT, Mr. Taffin turned to me and mentioned that he had heard of my mother’s passing. He said “you never get over it”, and spoke of his own experience. To that, I must totally agree.
When my father passed away, I wrote a poem, which my mother kept on the wall of her home until her passing. It took me longer to do the same for my mother, but I knew when the time was right, the words would come to me.
As this new year rushes to a blur, it takes just the blink of an eye to find myself back at 11:39pm, February 11th, 2010…
The year began with me running back and forth to hospitals and nursing facilities following my mother's stroke. Those six months between her stroke and eventual passing, I spent very little time at my workbench.
My brother, Fermin Garza (and many other dear friends), was close by me in spirit during that trying time. After mom's passing, he and many others helped create a tribute to my mother in the form of The Mary Gun; a 4" S&W model 29. This special sixgun is a treasured heirloom that will be passed down to my boys. The ivory stocks, carved in the pattern of Elmer Keith's by Bob Leskovec, feature the initials MB for my mother.
Being a sixgunner is a rare thing, and finding others close by with the same interest is difficult at best! I was blessed with becoming friends with fellow sixgunner Jeff Hoover. During my mother's illness, Jeff, having gone through his own mother's passing just a short time before my mother's stroke, made daily calls to offer encouragement and advice. Jeff lives just a few short hours from me, and I had the pleasure of meeting him in person last year. Jeff presented me with a challenge coin and a pocket knife for both me and my son Ethan. Over the next few months, other packages would arrive with Jeff's return address. Bullets, books and American Rifleman magazines with articles by Elmer Keith made their way to me. To say that Jeff is large is an understatement! His physical size is equally matched, if not surpassed, by his generosity. I nicknamed him ‘Tank’, (although Fermin pronounces it ‘Stank’!), and I think it fits!
Late in the summer, I visited our own Dick Thompson and Steve Call. Since my stay was going to be short, Dick had a fast and furious schedule planned for us that included a trip to the Freedom Arms factory in Freedom, Wyoming, and a drive to Boise for a visit with Mr. and Mrs. John Taffin, and then a few hours were spent in awe at the Elmer Keith Museum. We did a lot of sightseeing, shooting and eating! Getting to meet Steve and Betty was a true highlight! Steve presented me with a Callshot Fan Club hat and a walking stick he had made, both the perfect companion to the Callshot vest that Tank sent me before the trip! A few days after I arrived, Tank and Samantha flew in for a visit with the famous duo of Soda Springs! We spent our only full day together shooting and sightseeing, which ended with me getting to take a badger with the Mary Gun. What a great ending to an extra special trip! As Dick said, it was the icing on the cake!
Tank invited me to his home in Maryland for the opening day of their deer season. The Friday after Thanksgiving, I loaded my truck up and made the 3 ½ hour drive to Poolesville. Jeff, his wife Camille and daughter Samantha made me feel right at home. I was treated to a fantastic dutch oven dinner, complete with huckleberry cobbler dessert! The following day found us in the woods for 12 hours. We watched the sun rise and set, and enjoyed the tranquility of time in the woods with a good sixgun. While the deer I saw were too far for me and the Mary Gun, it was a most memorable day! Tank taking a doe with his 475 Linebaugh made it all the more special!
A chapter of my life ended in 2010, yet so many others began. Through the blur of time, snapshots of moments are burned into your memory forever. I look forward to 2011; plans are already made with Dick, Fermin, Tank, good friend Glenn Swaggart and others. Tales will be told, sixguns will be shot and memories will be made. I am spending the start of this new year working on my backlog, and to all my customers who are patiently waiting, THANK YOU!
Back in August, while having lunch with Dick and JT, Mr. Taffin turned to me and mentioned that he had heard of my mother’s passing. He said “you never get over it”, and spoke of his own experience. To that, I must totally agree.
When my father passed away, I wrote a poem, which my mother kept on the wall of her home until her passing. It took me longer to do the same for my mother, but I knew when the time was right, the words would come to me.
As this new year rushes to a blur, it takes just the blink of an eye to find myself back at 11:39pm, February 11th, 2010…
![Pampers Sensitive Baby Wipes, Clinically Proven, Fragrance Free, Unscented, Water Based, Hypoallergenic, Multi-Use, Hand Wipes 336 Wipes Total (6X Flip-Top Packs) [Packaging May Vary]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41KLBHu9CAL._SL500_.jpg)
I can add that I can vouch for what has been said here of Tank. I've gotten some of those packages that Mike mentions containing some Yankee wool and challege coins, bullets, American Riflemen, etc. You just never know what Jeff may have up his sleeve!! Very interesting gentleman that I have enjoyed getting to know even better over the past year. Who would have known that when I went with Dick to pick Jeff up at the airport in Pocatillo, ID that the guy that brought broken sixguns to chase elk would become one of my closest friends 
make me happy, and I suspect they are what we take from this time we call life, at least I hope so. Nice post, and yes the years seem to dissolve too quickly.
