Vini, Vidi, Vici

A once young man came by the stables to visit us late yesterday afternoon. He had tears in his eyes. I'd seen him the night before, when his eyes had first welled up with those tears. He sat Jesse and I down- as it was the close of day and the riders had dwindled to few. He looked at us both in earnest, and with a shaking voice he told of treasure hunting travels, and the friends he had made along the way. He was wracked with emotion and he could hardly now speak, but he said...

"Life takes you on a journey, and at its end, it slows and all that matters are the things you have seen, the people you have known. The memories you have created. These are things that no man can steal. 

It's simply not true, that you can't take your treasure with you. The treasure becomes you- and it is all that you will take with you in the end". 

Brian Lickman is one of Jesse's father's dearest and oldest friends. On Wednesday, March the 15th he was named Superstition Mountain Treasure Hunter of the Year by the Victory Club, an organization which honors those who vigilantly search for the legendary Lost Dutchman gold mine, and other lost treasure in Arizona's fabled Superstition Mountains. The honor that was bestowed upon him was as he called it, "the greatest moment of my life".

He had come to the stables to be sure we knew what it meant to him to have such friends that had made his life so rich- and that they would honor him amongst such great men. He talked of being a humble man- but, just now first feeling the full depth of humility. His gratitude still streaming down his face. 

Humbling indeed- for all of us. What a great and wonderful man.

Veni, Vidi, Vici