A customer's old Colt made me see my work in a new light

An older man brought in a Colt 1911 his dad carried in Korea. He didn't want it refinished, just cleaned and made safe. He said, 'Please don't make it look new. I want to see the marks he left.' It hit me that for years I've aimed for a perfect, like-new finish, but sometimes the story is in the wear. I spent two hours just cleaning and oiling it, leaving every honest scratch. Do you ever get requests to preserve the history instead of restoring it?