What a father can teach

Today was the day.  My father retired from a job that he has been doing for many years.  His fellow co-workers and I got together and decided to give him a little gift to commemorate the event.  I thought that this post would be entirely about the gift.  The more I thought about it, the less it was about the gift and the more it was about what it represents.

I have a great relationship with my father.  Everything I am and know came from my parents.  My confidence in my abilities originates in the strength my parents instilled in me.  I learned my work ethic from my father.  Saturday mornings; up early to clear brush.  I loved those crisp, cool mornings and the sound and smell of the gas chainsaw.  Mowing the lawn, taking care of animals, chores around the house.  All things that teach children important things, whether the kid knows it or not.

In celebration of a career that spanned 41 years, we commemorated the event with a beautiful rifle.  You just don't see that kind of dedication and loyalty anymore.  I thought a unique rifle would be perfect.

It is a Henry Golden Boy in .22 WMR (.22 Mag) and it really is absolutely gorgeous.  I took the receiver cover and butt-plate to the engraver.  We put some relevant dates on the receiver cover.  I loved the way it turned out.

The butt-plate was an interesting project.  It took some doing, but we were able to get a copy of his initials to engrave there.

I was really happy with how the whole project turned out.  My dad is still trying to figure out if he wants to even handle the gun that much.  My advice was "use it."  If I inherited a rifle that was my great-grandfather's and had been engraved with family history, I would love to see some loving wear from the owner.  He ended up with a few boxes of ammo which should last a while.  I can't wait to spend some time at the range with him.

Now for some more pictures just because.