a sad delima

[sid]

my 88 year old friend is still in good health but he knows his day is coming very soon..like he says .. how much longer can a person expect to l ive and have a good life...on saturday I stopped by his house to drop off a christmas gift...it only took a minute and I knew he had something to tell me.... he has decided to give most of his engines away and wants me to have first pick.... he knows his family will not have a use for them or know what to do with them.. they will either end up as scrap or junked..so the delima i have is do I pick an engine or what. after thinking about it for several days I still do not have a solution...he has about 50 engines and most are of med, value except 4 or 5/// he has only put 2 engines off the list that he wants to keep/// he has a lot of hit and miss and throtle gov. engines,iron horses.etc/ he has only one lister, a 3 or4 hp square hopped gas version. i do not know the model but it is a good running engine,the more I think about it , I do not want to make a decision...I do not know what to do...sid

[LowGear]

Is there any passion for any of the engines?  That when you hear it run you'll remember your wise friend with the kindness and grace he has bestowed upon you?

Casey

[Doug]

You have my deapest sympathy Sid.

Not a place I like to be in.....

[t19]

take a good one (its scap to the family)  use it and remember him ... thats a fitting tribute

[Tom]

Or ask him which engine he'd most like you to have.

[Doug]

Yes I like Tom's idea.

Perhaps there is a preservation group around that would be interested is saving the rest Sid.

[contaucreek]

I thought of Toms idea before I scrolled down to read it.

I bought a hit and miss engine a few years ago and I called the old owner one day this summer to tell him that I had it running at the end of the driveway for folks to see and that it wasn't going to live in a garage under a tarp.There was no answer so I left that message. As it turns out he had died a few months earlier but his widow had listened to the message and she was happy to hear it !!

We grow old and die. We make room for others. The iron lives on though...and it sounds like it will be in good hands.


                                              Paul, in Canada ,where we can handle snow.

[listerboy]

You're in a tough spot Sid, but I think Tom's suggestion is worth a try. If nothing else it will be good just to visit again. Seems like a really nice guy and he obviously values your friendship.

Dave

[buickanddeere]

  Decide soon. Last month we had a retirement party for one of my co-workers aged 62. Sunday of this week the cops broke into his place found him to have deceased in his sleep the previous day.

[Tom]

And besides that maybe he won't be able to decide which one to give you and you'll get several. 

[westcoaster]

Dilema? what dilema?

Your friend is still alive and has made a decision to downsize. He has set a clear boundry by placing the two engines off limits so it's not like your "taking advantage" of the situation.


Pick a nice engine, pick three, whatever you do be prepared to pay him for them. If he refuses start haggling and come up with every excuse in the book why you should pay him for the engine(s) Be creative with payment options. Something he has always waned, a donation to his favorite charity a trade up for one of your engines (that last one is counter productive to his end goal though...)

At the end of the day you still might walk away without paying anything for the engine but at least you will know you tried and he will know you offered and to what length you were willing to go...

He has given you the honor of first pick, grab ahold of it with both hands...

[wiebe]

We had a close call here with my mother this sommer .
Things are ok now butt she is 81 jears old and told us ,better take something from a hot hand then from a cold hand !!

Greetings Wiebe.