I hate like hell to have to make a post like this, but Fieldgrade, aka Charlie, has passed away.
He had been battling a serious health issues for the past year and it finally got the best of him. He didn't like to advertise his health problems on the board and didn't want sympathy so it wasn't necessarily apparent to all what he was going through until just recently.
I will tell you that he fought hard, but things finally got to the point where quantity of life was gone and so was the quality. He chose to not seek anymore of the almost endless medical treatments and just let things take their course. After seeing him numerous times over the past few weeks, and watching the cancer suck him dry, I can't blame him either.
He would have been 68 on Christmas Day.
I know these discussion boards can be a strange way of knowing people, but Charlie was exactly as he portrayed himself. He was the real deal all the way. The type of guy you never could get ahead of because if you did a small favor for him he would double it in return. I know he was a bit taken aback when he read all the well wishes from his hospital stay a few weeks ago and he appreciated it.
If you know Charlie even a little, you know he was a dog man through and through. We made sure that Sally, his Mountain Cur, has a good home waiting for her.
Anyway, hoist a glass of your favorite beverage to the sky and wish Charlie well because he is healthy again and shooting grounds squirrels, chasing pheasants with his dogs; Pete and Sophie, trapping bobcats, and sitting on his deck and watching deer and hummingbirds.
We lost a good one.
To you Charlie...! May your traps be full and your rifles fine! May your soul remain ornery yet your dogs civilized.........RIP!
X-V
