Monday, July 28, 2014

Mementoes

Cliff has a lot of old pocket knives that I keep in a made-in-Germany stein that our son bought when he was stationed there.  Every single knife has a story.  Tonight we were watching something about knives on Modern Marvels:  Buck knives was mentioned, and the memories began.  I told Cliff that if he passes on to the great beyond before I do, I will be keeping the Buck knife that Boyde Dudley gave him one time when he was drunk.  Don't ask.  And then I told him that I'm pretty sure the kids and grand-kids would all like one of those knives as a keepsake. 

"They don't care about that stuff," he said.  

"Oh yes they do," I replied.  "They may not care about my grandma's stuff, but they will care about your stuff.  If the kids don't want them, a couple of grand-kids will."  



Then he lovingly picked up each knife one at a time and told the story about it.  The three on the bottom right are K-bar knives, every one completely worn out.  The third from the right on the top row is one he used to castrate pigs with, although he wasn't particularly fond of that knife.  The black one in the middle of the top row is the one I want.    

Every knife has a story.  I intend to put each one in a baggie with a note telling the story about that particular pocket knife.  I'm pretty sure somebody related to us will want one of them.  

8 comments:

  1. Oh, I am sure they will be wanted! My husband has already worn through several pocket knives but no good stories to go with them. Bummer!

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  2. Great post. My grandpa used to give each of his grandkids a pocket knife when they turned five. His only requirement was that you kept it sharp enough to trim the hair on the back of his forearm. Shame to the grandkid who showed up at his house with a dull knife. He'd test it on his arm, and if it didn't cut his hair he'd lean down, step on the blade, and yank up with the knife - thus ending it's useful life. Oh, what memories your photo and story evoked.

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  3. Absolutely! The memories are what they want mostly, but the item is also special.

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  4. A bounty full of stories with each one. All special, indeed.

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  5. Picture reminds me that my grandfather had a pocket knife (or more than one) exactly the same as those on the lower right.

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  6. to this day, my Dad still uses his pocket knife to clean the dirt under his nails. I made an attempt, sliced myself, have had a healthy respect for pocket knives since...thx for sharing♥

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  7. Boyde Dudley? Drunk? A pocket knife?

    Oh, I'm asking, all right.

    (Please?)

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  8. I think that's a great idea. Eler Beth started collecting knives when she was about 8 years old. She has more than I can count now, and she remembers where or how she got each one of them.

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