A Final Farewell to Johnny Adams

[peternap]

http://news.oldva.org/uncategorized/a-final-farewell-to-johnny-adams/

This afternoon, I got a call from my daughter. She said she had just heard Johnny Adams had died and knew we were friends.

I hadn't seen Johnny for a couple of years. I had tried to keep up with him but had no idea he had relapsed. Even so, Johnny was perhaps the best friend I've ever had.

Many years ago, I was working as a consultant to a computer company in Richmond. They had a retail outlet and Johnny walked in one day. This was before Microsoft had released Access. He needed a database and knew nothing about computers. I took him back to the office I was using and showed him a law enforcement program I had written. He was hooked.

Little did I know that he would become a computer junkie. As time went by, I gave him software, computers, accessories and troubleshooting help. He was on every outdoor and hunting board around.

I Deer hunted on his farm and we stayed in touch until I got sick.  Johnny was one of the most ethical and successful hunters I knew. He was also the most kind hearted person I've ever met. You'd never know it when you met him the first time. He could sound gruff when he wanted, which was often...but it was all show. He was a genuinely good person.

He was also a strong supporter of our second amendment rights. When he was trying to gather as much cash as he could to build his house, I bought a couple of guns from him. They will always be cherished possessions. He was forced to carry a Glock and called once to ask how you shot them if you couldn't change the grips to fit. I made my usual Glock jokes then told him to use moleskin to change the pressure points on the grip. His combat shooting improved at once. He did get a fair amount of ribbing about his blister gun though.

Johnny Adams was full of surprises. He loved Hound Hunting. He also agreed with me that ten percent were slobs and were ruining it for the ethical hunters. Several years ago when the Sunday hunting controversy had started again,  Johnny jolted me by telling me he didn't want Sunday hunting. He said there should be a day in the week you could be out with the family, without someone running a pack of dogs by.

When HBO was making the mini series, John Adams, I took Johnny to the back lot. He walked in and his eyes got wide while he said, " There's 5 acres in this building". I think he chuckled to himself, as I took him around and introduced him to the movie executives as "John Adams".

He had a hunting lease that he let me shoot on during the off season. I took a group of movie people to introduce them to shooting. When we went, they were borderline anti gun, when we came back, they were solidly pro gun.



A couple of years ago, after Jimmy Hayes died, I emailed Johnny and told him to take care of himself because I was running out of friends fast. He just laughed.

As the years went by, I developed heart trouble and without knowing it, diabetes. I was a little shocked when he called me one day just to talk, and told me he had throat cancer. He faced it head on just like he did with everything in his life.

Last summer, I was finally getting to the point where I could function a little, and started trying to find out how he was doing. I called his wife and she told me he was in remission. That was music to my ears. I told her I'd get down to see him soon. As with most things, I kept putting it off. Now it's too late. Hopefully Johnny understands.

Johnny was a hunter, fisherman and loved the outdoors as much as anyone I've known.  The house he built on his family home place, oozed with his trophies and family memorabilia. He loved to introduce kids to outdoor sports and bought one a shotgun. Heaven has a special place for people like him.

Getting older isn't like the Geritol commercials. It's not all fun loving elderly people, dancing on cruise ships. In addition to dealing with my own mortality, I have to say goodbye to cherished friends far too often.

Johnny, I'll remember the good times, regret the time lost and try not to think about not seeing you again.

Godspeed  my friend !

[bayview]

   What a special tribute to an old friend . . . Our condolences to his family and friends.

   Especially hard during the holidays . . .


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[Redoverfarm]

Peter sorry to hear about your friend.  Why is it that good people die and bad people live.   I too had another friend pass this past week.  His son helped me with setting the logs.  His dad was with us everyday to make sure we did it right.  He wanted to see what it looked like and his son was going to bring him up but he ran out of time.   I guess that is a wake-up call for all to keep in touch with friends who have given us so much enjoyment in life.  This is what it is all about.

[MountainDon]

Nice Peter. All we can hope is that someone can say similar good things about us when our time comes. And in the meantime we strive to leave behind good things for people to talk about us.