Mr. Fred,
There is a very specific and special reason why I feel the way I do about the topic, of course there are all of those times that you see or hear the phrase, "This was my Dad's knife", and you can insert any family member into the place of Dad as well, it's like it's an extra special knife, because it belonged to someone (and it was, for that reason). Now, you don't too often hear, "This was my Dad's screwdriver." I guess it doesn't hold the same mystique as a knife does.
Now, MY explanation, why I feel like I do about it.
In 06, me and my wife celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, a month prior to that, she saw me in my usual place, looking on eBay at knives of all kinds when I stumbled on a BEAUTIFUL folder with Mosaic Damascus (made by Devin Thomas), Desert Iron Wood Burl scales, and file work every where possible, it was a site to behold, exquisite in every way! I showed it to her and she asked if I would like one like that! I was like, eeerrrr..DUH! Ya, think!!! Without sounding too enthusiastic..., and that was all that was said. I usually made specific plans for our Anniversary, but this year she couldn't commit to anything far enough ahead of time, to be able to go out of town or anything like that, so I made reservations at a nice local restaurant, I had a dozen roses delivered to her at work, and a few more little surprises, I generally blew the budget on her before she had a chance to buy me anything, because that's the way I enjoyed it. Fast forward to diner that night, she said, "I went ahead and picked you up a little present", then she went into her normal poor mouthing kinda thing, "it's not much", "just a little something I saw I thought you'd like" were her normal things she'd say. Well as soon as I saw the box I knew what it was, and being a knife snob like most people on her are, I kinda cringed and thought to me myself, "LOVE IT NO MATTER WHAT IT IS!!!!" I opened it up and to my shock and amazement was that little gents folder!!!! The ironwood in the pic was not even close to the real thing, the Damascus was a weird pattern that Devin came up with, I think he called it either "Bubble Wrap, or Dot Matrix Damascus, it's mostly black with little shiny pieces scattered all through it. And the "Thorn and Vine" file work was perfect, oh and it was made by a guy by the name of Mark Laramie, I had never heard of him and still don't see him in many places, he has been in the Knives (yearly) Annual a couple of times. The quality of this knife is off the chart!
SO as an anniversary gift from my wife and that it was made by an up and coming maker, she really nailed it, now this isn't something I talk about a lot, or even at all, in fact there are only a couple of people on here that know this, we celebrated our last anniversary February 14, 2006, 2 weeks later on February 24th, my wife passed away at 35 years old due to a heart attack. Now you can see how that knife will forever be important to me, it holds a special place in my heart, it will always be MORE than just a knife. She had given me a lot of stuff before, none of it holds the meaning like that knife does. All of this happened before I started making knives. Please don't get my current wife and my former wife confused, Tina is my wife now and the only person in the world that supported and encouraged me to pursue knife making as it was one of those things that just would not leave me alone, she is the one that I dedicated my first knife to, in honor of her love and support.
Knives seem to have the ability to store memories and shared life experiences, just like You, Mr. Fred shared with your friend Mr. Jim, although, the thing that makes your memories so incredible is that you got to "experience" the memories because they were "stored" in that knife, you felt the work of his hands, I can see how doing a particular task on that blade can flood your mind with memories of several different places in time.
Mr.Fred, I think Mr.Jim had one more lesson he wanted to share with you, a special gift of sorts, that ONLY you could receive, I think he (unknowingly) stored some memories in that last Dagger, that only you could experience, ONLY you would know the processes he used to make that blade, which means only YOU could truly, honestly, finish that knife.
What a beautiful thing to share with a special friend and with us Dogs, while loosing a great friend is never good, I think you can take a lot of comfort in knowing that YOU got to experience the memories he stored in that blade!
THANK YOU, Mr Fred, for sharing this with us, Rex
BTW, Sorry for this being so long, I'm sure there will be some folks that think I'm off my rocker, and that's OK, because I am! It's not a secret! But, I HOPE there will be someone that, by me sharing this, I hope everyone will realize that by making knives they may be presented with a situation that the knife they make has the potential to be more than just a knife.
