Cousin Curt called today to see how I was doing. It is incredible that he and his brothers still idolize me. Curt remembers when I was teaching him to shoot. We were walking across a bridge above a small creek near Wellington Ohio and saw a water moccasin swimming toward us. I fired at the snake at about 30 feet and took his head off. It was just a very lucky shot on a moving target but Curt remembers it to this day. To him I am still a great marksman. If memory serves, that was the last time I ever fired a rifle. That was almost 50 years ago.
I was also the first person who lifted him onto a motorcycle. I ran alongside of him until he got his balance. Now he remembers me as a great motorcycle racer. I did race on dirt tracks for a season but I was not very good at it. I never raced against him because of our age difference. I left home after that season and never raced again.
Curt and most of his brothers became very skilled Motorcycle racers, far, far better than I was. Still, they think of me as an expert.
Although I don’t deserve the praise I still like to know that they remember me.