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I Forge Iron

Re Introducing myself


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I am reintroducing myself to the forum. I had signed up in summer of 2012 when my wife an I had brought our first home and I finally had a place to start trying to blacksmith. I had started collecting a few things including a 132lb Peter Wright anvil. The reason I have been away so long is that on November 27, 2012 my wife and I were in a single car accident on the interstate at 10am. We were going into town to meet her folks and hit black ice and rolled our truck 12 or 14 times. My wife died at at the accident site. I had basically shattered everything on my right side. I broke my spine in 15 places including c1, c2, c4 &5. I had tore my brain in 6 places including a tear in my brain stem. I tore all of the muscles off of the right thigh which caused a massive amount of fluid to build up in my leg. I was in a coma for several weeks due to my brain swelling but I was lucky that it stopped before they had to tap my head. I have had to learn how to do everything over from the basics of talking to tying my shoes to you name it. I lost the house we had because I was unable to pay for it while in the hospital and I simply couldn't live in it without Nell anyhow.

I have moved to another small town about 15 miles west. I was able to buy a house outright and I am happy to report I have a 1/4 acre back yard. I have a shop that I have had built by the Mennonites that is 12x28 and I have been slowly getting it stocked with stuff. Nell was always encouraging me to chase after the things I found passion for. She was my most passionate project lol. To be honest there are days I can't even get out of bed because I'm hurting. But some days I'm ok. I have a cole forge and a 2 burner propane forge. I am using the propane forge for now. Tomorrow I am picking up some square and round stock to start making some tools I need that I don't have and I am hoping that in a few weeks I will be able to post a pic or two to share. Everyone thinks I'm nuts talking about blacksmithing. I figure I already died three times and the only thing I kept thinking about once my brain started working again was how me and Nell was going to try smithing and maybe  casting or jewelry making or bladesmithing. It kept me going so in a weird way I owe it. Maybe I'm just ranting lol.

The pic is my wife Junell. It was taken in August of 2012 we were just out enjoying the day. She was a Math Teacher and a Oncology Nurse, my best friend and the love of my life. Shes the wonderful mother of three sons and daughter.

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Dave: I don't have words to express how I feel. "I'm sorry for your loss," falls so SO short but I don't know anything better.

I live in daily pain, broken neck, C1 chondyle, related skull fracture and the fracture on the left side of my skull, broken orbit, nerve damage, foot, leg, etc. TBI. Flat lined a couple times, coma. Learning to swallow, turn away from bright light, how to turn my head. Eat, drink, walk, talk, go to the bathroom. The glory of taking a hot shower of my own! Water smelled funky for a couple years, still smells different.

Deb went, in some ways is still going through something closer to you losing Nell. It hurts just writing this. You're back with us and we'll pull for you. We may not be Kin but we're Kith in iron.

Welcome back Brother it's good to have you.

Humbly yours, Frosty.

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Thanks for the kind words guys. I started writing and I was honestly surprised that all of that came out. Guess I needed to vent lol. I had no doubt I would get support from fellow smiths. Guys and gals who are into smithing are pretty down to earth folks and all of the ones I have met are always more than willing to share advice or lend a hand if needed with no expectation of anything in return other than maybe showing some interest in the craft. Oh and on a lighter note we had almost 2 feet of snow yesterday on the west side of the state and a couple of tornados near me. One hit a town just west of mine and pretty much flattened it but the good news is no lives lost.

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2' of snow?  my next door neighbor in my suburbia house is running their air conditioner full time---and it's only about 84 degF.  I'm digging bricks out of the desert from the previous tenant's great idea and flooring the shed I have to cram in all my travel smithing stuff into. Got 2 more weeks to clear out of the suburbia place and gussy it up for the inspection. Then I'll have a forge warming at my new place, (after I haul a lot of stuff 5 hours away to teach at our church's camp up near Santa Fe for a couple of days.)

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Thank you, Dave, for sharing your life with us. It's very honourable to be one of those who you feel you can trust with all of this. I wish you all the strength (both mental and physical) you need to continue and I hope you can grab into blacksmithing and gain more and more while doing it. (maybe it's needless to say that start easy, don't hurt yourself overdoing it at the re-beginning)

I also wish the best for your children hoping they may want to participate in your activity sharing good times togehter. 

I wish I could say more but the nature of human languages makes difficult to communicate what I truly feel...

Be well, take care, enjoy the day...

Gergely

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