Loss of a friend
David Ausman.
(Dave is on the left in the picture)I went to Junior high and High school with David. He died Dec. 19th 2007. Dave was 48.
I found out about it because yesterday I was discussing going to Alaska to fish with my friend Dale. I told him I went to school with a guy that owns and operated Gold Coast Lodge(http://www.goldcoastlodge.com) in Alaska. I google searched Gold Coast Lodge and read the sad news that my old high school friend had passed away.
David was a free spirited man. Living his dream. I am proud of him for this. Not many people get to live their dreams. He enjoyed helping others live their dreams by helping them have the time of their lives fishing in the abundant waters of Alaska.
In Dave's own words...
" I'm David Ausman and for the last 25 years, I have been living a dream. I live in a sportsman's paradise! I make my living giving people a wilderness experience far beyond the ordinary. I've watched most of my clients catch the biggest fish of their lives. I've helped most of my clients catch more fish in one day than they ever caught on any other fishing trip they've ever taken. I have guided first place in more Alaskan fishing derbies than any man in Alaskan history. I even rode on the back of a 35 foot humpback whale in scuba gear to save its life after it tangled in a 500 foot rope - and I have digital videotape to prove it."
A little more on the success Dave enjoyed!
"With David Ausman as guide, Guests of Gold Coast Lodge have won the Ketchikan Halibut Derby 7 years in a row! David was "Top Guide in the 1990 Great Alaska Sports fishing Championship. Having guided 1st Place in 8 derbies in 7 years, David Ausman is the winningest guide in Alaska sports fishing history."
I never joined David in that adventure, and now, sadly, I never will.
What can we take from his death to help us go on living? I miss him and I haven't even seen him since my 20 year high school reunion which was just over ten years ago. Why is it that we take things for granted? Thinking that there is time for this and for that? Before you realize it... people are gone. Did you get to wish them well? Say good bye? Did you even say hello? I do not know if David was married at his time of death, I do know that he had a young son in his teens. I am saddened by this... I am getting older myself, at any moment, in the twinkling of an eye, I could be gone. What have I left behind? Have I fought the good fight?
Have I touched anyone? Had anyone touched me? See what these ponderings lead too?
Pick up the phone, get in your car, call someone, go see them.
Who crosses your mind this very instant? Call them! Go do something with them, make a memory!
Sorry I didn't get up to see you and enjoy your dream Dave. You live on in the fond memories I have of us as teenagers messing around and well... not quite getting into trouble, just missing some though, trouble that is.
posted by Timmy Jimmy @ 2:36 AM
6 Comments:
Dave does live on, every day, he rocks! I'll love him forever. Thank you for remembering him. He was and is great!
Melissa Ausman
Dave does live on, every day, he rocks! I'll love him forever. Thank you for remembering him. He was and is great!
Melissa Ausman
This is really wierd because I was just thinking about him the other day. Any time someone talks about fishing in Alaska or mentions Alaska, I always think of David.
I also knew David in Junior High and High School. I remember talking to him at the last reunion that he came to. I remember us laughing and I remember teasing him. I remember mentioning that when the other guys in school had long hair that he had short hair and now that they have short hair that he had the long hair. We laughed about that. I also remember him talking about his son back then and about the barge that he built in Alaska. In fact, I believe that I still have the brochure that he gave me. I remember that his son was living on the barge with him. I asked him what he was going to do when his son had to start going to school. He said that he would work that out later when the time came.
I knew that he enjoyed himself in Alaska and the several fish stories that he had told me and how happy all his customers were. I will also miss him.
It is sad to know that he died at such a young age!
Dave was a wonderful man...we are close friends with his mom & dad in Seattle. We still miss him everyday. He was a great husband to my sister and stepdad to her kids..... he is still up there fishing :)
Hello Timmy I just found your blog. It really made me happy to hear your story here. Your quotes of him brought back very fond memories I thank you kindly. - Jacob Ausman Daves son.
206-446-5996
Good to har from you Jacob. I am glad my words about your father touch you in some way.
Like i say in the post, your dad lived his dream and what more can we ask for? He was a rich man because of that!
Post a Comment
<< Home