A gift handed down

When I graduated High School in 1989, one of my uncles ("Uncle Greg") sent me a gift - it was a simple Gerber three-blade pocket knife.

I had owned - and lost - many knives over the years, but I was determined not to lose this one. It wasn't an expensive knife, nor was it cheap either.

Though I've carried it for most of the past 35+ years, I haven't lost it.

And it's something that my kids have seen me carry and use through their entire life. And this got me to thinking.

Passing along the memories

My parents had always had plans to hand down a lot of their cherished items and keepsakes to us kids. Mom loved sewing, so she had often purchased two of each sewing related item, one for each of my sisters. Likewise Dad loved woodworking, so his intention was to hand down his entire woodworking shop full of tools when I was ready.

Sadly as time passed and our parents aged and had to move out of their house into a nursing home (and Mom dying just a few weeks ago), I started to think about these "things". Sure, I always remember Mom sitting in her sewing room keeping busy with anything from repairing a simple torn sock, to sewing a full dress from a pattern bought at the local WalMart and constructed from fabric (some new, most recycled). And I remember working with Dad in his shop learning how to cut and shape wood into a functional piece used in a repair, or a more decrative piece such as a cabinet or book shelf in the house.

The best laid plans

Each of those encompassed a lot of memories - the feel of the fabric, the sound of the sewing machine or saw, the smell of the fresh cut wood or varnish as it dried. And of all the things - the tools they were using in their craft hobby - the ones I cherish and have held onto are the smaller, intimate ones.

My Mom rescued one of my favorite stuffed animals, "Turtle", many years ago. He and "Teddy" live in my closet - maybe not the most hallowed of areas, but definitely not relegated to the donation bin. And my house has many things Dad built - he helped me finish our basement, but I've also kept his hammer he used in each of those woodworking projects.

When they had to rapidly downsize out of their house into the assisted living and ultimately into the nursing home, us kids weren't in a position to gracefully move any of the big objects they envisionsed us to keep. So they were either sold to friends, sold in a mass auction, or were donated locally. The sewing machines, the woodworking tools, all of them were now gone - not given to their originally intended recipient.

Sure, we wanted to keep them, but due to the urgency of the move and the fact that we already had houses of our own with our own "stuff" we couldn't take much in.

And this got me to thinking - when I finally pass from this world, will my kids want anything of mine?

Smaller is better

In the many weeks while driving to clean out my parents house, and the many weeks since where we've sat and talked with them, I have been watching what I do that my kids might notice and want to hold onto in the future.

The pocket knife I've had since graduation is one of those that is firmly emblazed into their memories of me. Whenever a box needed to be opened, or a cord cut, or possibly some other small scraping of paint or other foreign object, the kids came to me to borrow the knife. From working in the yard, to crafts at home, school activities, Christmas and Birthday gifts, etc. I and my knife were there to assist.

So I went on a quest.

The clone

I setup an alert on eBay to watch for another Gerber three-blade pocketknife. Many "close" matches came up - definitely not the same as what I had. And occassionally an "exact" match would come up - but usually those were in the $Expensive range and I couldn't justify the purchase. Finally, luck hit and a lightly used knife, identical to the one I was gifted over 35 years ago showed up for a very reasonable (to me) price.

I jumped on the purchase and received it just a couple days later. It felt different - it had wear, but not the level that my original had. It's blades were in a condition very similar to mine, so it was a good match.

Someone looking closely at it would notice a few small items that flag the "new" from the "old" one - or more precisely the "rarely carried" vs the "everyday carry" patina my original has.

Giving it some "distress"

I'm now carrying both in my pocket to get the wear on them closer to identical. I'm not going for identical nor am I trying to pull the wool over the eyes of my kids when they do inherit them. I've grown very comfortable with this little three-bladed pocket tool, so carrying a second around isn't a noticable difference.

I would like it if my wife and kids can't tell the original one from the eBay purchase, but something will always stand out on one of them. More wear on the handle here, a slightly less-worn down tip on that one, etc.

At the end of the day (and my life on this earth), these knives will really only mean something to them. In an estate auction, they would be sold in a box with other knick-knacks. But to my kids these are a small bit of something I kept with me and they can easily take with them as their life journy winds around the world for them.