As most of you who follow my blog know, sometimes my blog can be downright depressing, absolutely uplifting or even at times boring. I write about my life making no pretense to making stuff up just to make it “interesting.” This story I am about to share could never be made up- and no, it is not about a cat- surprise, surprise!
Mike due to his illness has been confined to a wheelchair in the house. He walks with difficulty with a walker and the use of a leg brace but doesn’t like to get out much. He spends most of his time at his computer playing solitare. I think he is feeling a bit alone in the world right now, as before the surgery he was such an active person.
Before he got sick, he was a custom knifemaker. But two years ago, realizing that he couldn’t control his limbs much anymore, he sold all his knifemaking equipment. It was the second time in our over twenty years of marriage that I saw him cry. We both cried when we put our German Shepherd girl Kenai down at the age of 15.
The life just went out of him after that.He hung around the house in his robe, slept a lot and had no purpose. I finally got him a few months ago to go back in the shop and with my help, we re-organized the shop and he started puttering around it again. Recently, he made a knife. It is a Bowie knife, there is a photo posted in this blog a few days ago about what it looks like. The handle is fossilized ivory and dahl sheephorn. It is beautiful but he couldn’t sell it here because of the economy, so he turned to his old stomping grounds Alaska and found a pawnbroker who wanted to see if for his collection. Asking price $800.00 and trust me, that price is cheap for the beautiful knife that it is!
So it was mailed to one of Mike’s son to go over and show it the guy, get the money and send it back. But tonight, the phone rings and it is the pawnbroker. He isn’t happy with the knife, had a whole list of things wrong with it- which really weren’t wrong with it. Said he wouldn’t buy if for anything under $200.00!
I could see Mike fading every second, and I am sitting in the corner fuming as I am listening to this conversation on speaker phone. I told Mike to have him send it back to us and the call terminated.
Mike was so bummed. I tried to pick his spirits up by pointing out that the man’s business is really robbing other people, paying less for items he knows he can get for more! But it wasn’t working and Mike crawled into bed at 6:00 p.m.
I am at my computer trying to work and praying for God to bring Mike a smile, when the phone rings again. This time it was his son. I said hello (we have to use speakerphone so Mike can hear) and there was no answer. I said hello again and still no answer- then his son spoke up and his voice was quavering. This is what he shared:
After leaving the pawn shop, he had a bad taste in his mouth so he stopped at the Kwick Stop to get a soda. While there, he waited in line and there was a well-dressed gentleman in line behind him. being much like his father he was chatting with the guy and the subject of the knife came up somehow.
After he finished the story, this well dressed gentleman asked him if he might see the knife? he said okay and they went out to the car and so the knife was produced. The man flipped out! He couldn’t say enough wonderful things about this beautiful knife. He said it was made by a Master Craftsman (and it was) and finally asked if he could buy it! He said, “If you want to pay $800.00 for it, I suppose you can buy it.”
The man replied: “I could never pay $800.00 for that knife!”
Mike’s son said, okay and started to put the knife away when the gentleman continued: “If I didn’t give you $1,000.00 for this knife, my buddies back home would never forgive me!”
He then pulled out ten one hundred dollar bills, took the knife and drove off! Mike’s son said at the end- “I didn’t even get his name!”
I had goosebumps at the end of the story. I told my step-son “Angels don’t leave names.”
Mike is smiling today and also his eyes are leaking (must be the cat dander!) and so am I-and his son he has a story attached to his Dad’s knife that will keep him warm for many yearsto come when he shares it!
Part II
It is a new day and this morning, his son just called and he was crying. He plowed his driveway last night and when he woke up this morning, he grew concerned because there was a set of footprints leading up to his house. He got out of bed and went outside and peered out. On the porch was a box. He picked it up and inside was his father’s knife! He said through tears that he had told the man he would love to have bought this knife but didn’t have the monies we were asking, He also told the gentleman that he knows his Dad and if he told him he wanted to buy it, his Dad would have given it to him, and he didn’t want to do that to us. (he was right) we would have just given him the knife. oh- and Dennis has a new knife now!
I am smiling and crying now- what an angel unaware just visited our lives.
