Monday, May 14, 2007
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I was very shocked and saddened about the loss of one of my boyhood mentors...Carl Freeman. And I will certainly miss seeing him @ the Tioga Grill, where he loved meeting w/his friends whilst eating breakfast recently. I've always thought that we take the best of someone who dies with us and either use the knowledge they gave us or have it somehow reflected thru us in our personalities. Carl ("Sharpie") taught me (and others) much more than good marksmanship; he had a style of teaching thru the "art" of target shooting, lessons that could be used in many aspects of life. And for these teachings, I'll always be grateful. For example, his much-used cliche of "it's the nut behind the butt," can mean so much more (in Carl's words) "than trying to excuse oneself for a stray shot that landed on the target in the wrong spot." He was always optimistic in the face of us being defeated as far as riflery was concerned; teaching me that no matter how hard we try, we should feel satisfied and proud that "we gave it our best." And I know Jeff Heath and I will never forget "Sharpie's" ability to stir the truly competetive forces in us that made us the best we could be in trying to outperform each other on the target range; not to mention the fact that we competed against other rifle teams from around Pa. and the entire country, for that matter. Even Mitzie will remember when Carl sponsored a match @the Antler's once featuring a top-notch team from the Ft. Benning, Ga. Army Rifle Co. These were expert riflemen, and I'll certainly never forget the expression on Carl's face when he examined one of their targets which seemed to have only one hole in it, but it was just a little bit bigger than the diameter of a single .22 round. What made this so unusual was that 20 rounds were shot thru the same hole at 50 yards w/the rifleman in the STANDING position! And, of course, that hole was the bullseye! Sharpie taught us more than anyone else @the time, to slow down, take proper breaths and control ourselves in order to get off the best shot. And that self-discipline has worked for me in many real-life situations as well. And even in serious situations, he taught us to say to ourselves; "what-the-heck; we can only do so much, so let's enjoy!" On the lighter side, if it wasn't for Carl's knowledge of "the lay of the land," I never would've learned how to coast in a car (in neutral) from clear out beyond his house all the way down to the traffic light @East Ave & Main St. Suspecting that Carl probably never really got over the death of Ida, I hope he has the peace he deserves now that he's with her.
