# The hardest tree i ever climbed



## jar1zx (Mar 4, 2009)

i will start by saying that i have climbed a few tree's that people have been hurt in like they cut there safty rope. but this one tree was the worst

let me start by telling you about my freind Dean. back in 2000 we had an ice storm. i live in a small town so i got done with all my work fast. and this old guy from texarkana called me up said he was starting a tree sevise and wanted me 2 climb for him. this is were i meant dean at 1st i thought dean was wierd mid 40's, not married, he was all ways 2 nice to me and allways watched me in the tree. any given time i was in the tree i could look down at the ground and see him staring at me. so one day i asked him why he was doing it and to my relife he said his job was ending and he wanted to learn to climb. so that was cool and we became fast friends. and some months after me and dean decided to go to work for ourselves. becuse the guy that we were working for had to many drug user's hired. so things went great for some time but one day i was paying dean and he said i owed him more money i think i smarted something off then he remided me it was for a job he found but had to take the day off and i did it with out him. so i was going to pay him for it he would not take the money. we started working more and more apart after that. he got some jobs i even helped him on a few. 

ok i will try 2 hurry this up. dean was working by him self passed out in a tree was able to come down homeowner helped him 2 his truck and went in to get him some water. came out he was dead.... few years later i had to climb this tree on the way up this pine i was thinking on all the good times we had and all. 1st limb i cut was over house i tied a boline with a half hitch by this time the tears were running down my face i cut the wrong limb hell i could not see. luckly i only made the limb hang so i re did rope and got tree done

i cant tell yall how great of a pearson dean was. i cant go back in time and take tho's words back that must have hurt his feelings. i still cant shake the guilt of me not being on that job. maybe i could have got him to the hostpal on time. i will live with that for the rest of my life. its been 8 years ago and it has not gotten any easyer. i dont have many freinds and i lost 1.

he died of a blood clot. and at the funeral i met his son. his son's name was jason same as my name

from this i learned we cant go back in time cant take things back. so i now try to treat people the way i would want 2 be treated becuse u never know on tomorow 

i will miss you dean and i will try my best 2 be a better person like you were


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## Nailsbeats (Mar 4, 2009)

Wow, that's a heck of a story man. I am almost crying. I think we all have a "Dean" story or two. I had a good friend that I got into a fight with and he shot himself 3 months later. Same type of deal with the guilt. Live and learn, good luck to ya.


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## jar1zx (Mar 4, 2009)

sry for my bad spelling and grammer. but this was very hard for me to write down. it still hurts me as bad as the day it happend. im bad with words but what i am trying to get across is that we get caght up in our daily lives,some times dont think on what we say, and put off saying things would should say for tomorow. what if tomorow does not come? 

i would give allmost anything i have to go back and tell dean i was sorry
not counting my kids i would give anything i owned 2 go back and be there on that job so i might have got him to the hostpal on time


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## jar1zx (Mar 4, 2009)

Nailsbeats said:


> Wow, that's a heck of a story man. I am almost crying. I think we all have a "Dean" story or two. I had a good friend that I got into a fight with and he shot himself 3 months later. Same type of deal with the guilt. Live and learn, good luck to ya.



i did cry the whole time i was writting this well not crying but i could not stop the tears and the pain

im going to have a drink now a big one


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## Adkpk (Mar 4, 2009)

Wow that was some story. Cheer up man, sometimes things just happen that way and there isn't anything we can do about it. That's why you have to live your life while you got it.


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## pdqdl (Mar 6, 2009)

I buried a climber a few years back from a mistake he made in a tree. Fine climber, he was a fine gentleman, too. His family got nearly nothing from worker's comp, either.

So occasionally I feel bad about it. Turn the situation around in your mind, and you will find that you probably could not have saved him, even if you had still been partners, and had been there that day. He might very well have died from the same blood clot watching TV after an uneventful day, too.

Don't feel guilty about his demise because your partnership fell apart. Very few guys can remain partners for long, and it sounds like you tried to do the riight thing. By refusing your money, he was also refusing your apology. It was his choice to part ways, whether or not you made a mistake and gave him an offense.

Let it go. 

If you can't, then treat some fine fellows you work with now to some praise for work well done and some thanks for being there. You'll feel better, and they will appreciate working with you as well.


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## pdqdl (Mar 6, 2009)

By the way: a big drink won't help. You'll only get depressed more, and then you'll wake up with less money, a hangover, and the same problems you started with.

Alcohol is a depressant. Why take a depressant when you are depressed? Go do something fun with someone else and enjoy what you have in life, instead of dwelling on what you don't have and can never get.


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## rdbrumfield (Mar 6, 2009)

Jar, who knows about how and when. When the Master of our spirit takes us it is on His terms.
I have lost friends to the woods, war, suicide, wrecks. We think of them from time to time an wonder what could have been. When it comes right down to it, we learn from them and cherish the memories. 
In my years, 61, what life has taught me is to be good for your word, lend a hand to a stranger, basically put life before self.
Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our life, make it a solid step up and lay a new foundation if need be.

One more thing, I have been dry for 12yrs. It is amazing how much better life is.
Just my two cents worth.

Randall


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## secureland (Mar 6, 2009)

rdbrumfield said:


> Jar, who knows about how and when. When the Master of our spirit takes us it is on His terms.
> I have lost friends to the woods, war, suicide, wrecks. We think of them from time to time an wonder what could have been. When it comes right down to it, we learn from them and cherish the memories.
> In my years, 61, what life has taught me is to be good for your word, lend a hand to a stranger, basically put life before self.
> Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our life, make it a solid step up and lay a new foundation if need be.
> ...



This is very good advice. Life is full of sad things and happy things. If you put them all into the same barrel they'll turn out to be something better than worse. That's because there is beauty and love in life. It's worth it. Enjoy your life, it's the finest of finest masterpieces you'll ever see. 
Cherish that masterpiece.


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## wvlogger (Mar 22, 2009)

If you can't, then treat some fine fellows you work with now to some praise for work well done and some thanks for being there. You'll feel better, and they will appreciate working with you as well.[/QUOTE]

i agree


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## CJ-7 (Apr 3, 2009)

It is threads like this that keep me coming back to ArboristSite as my forum of choice (out of about 15) when I am just looking to while away some time on the computer. I'm just a rec climber that might do a bit of light trimming while I am up in my own trees. What I have learned from this forum over the years is respect for the hazards of tree work and those that put their life on the line every time they climb. The wide range of people posting here is incredible, from PhD's to those dragging brush just to get beer money. Keep it up guys (and gals)!


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## TheLumberJack (Apr 4, 2009)

*Keep your chin up Jar*

I lost a close friend last summer at age 26. It was his first class of his first day of law school in San Diego. He had just moved there from WV. 

He gits in his car...battery is dead. He gets on his bicycle since he's only about 2 miles from campus...first intersection of the first road he's on he's hit by a car and dead within minutes.

I don't pretend to know it all but what I've taken from this and other similar events is that....life is precious, life is fragile, and without death life would have so little meaning. 

I _try_ to remind myself of this daily....when I catch myself slipping I think back to how quickly life can end. 

Hang in there big guy. You're here today and possibly gone tomorrow...rememeber that.


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