Gave away my peanut!

J

jackknife

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Oct 2, 2004
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No, I still loved the little knife, but it's found a new home.

My grandson, Ryan, has turned 10 and his mom, my daughter Jess, has agreed that its time for him to have a pocket knife. I gave it some very careful thought and today we went for a walk in the woods and I gave him my yellow handle peanut I got just recently. He had admired it very much, and it fit his hands well.

We whittled some under a shade tree, and he got the feel of it, so I gave him a block of instruction on how to whittle the pefect hot dog roasting fork. We found the perfect branch, sized to fit the hot dog with each of the two prongs of the sharpened fork a third of the way from each end of the dog. A boy should know how to make the perfect weiner stick. We built a small fire and roasted the couple of hotdogs I had stashed in my pack just before leaving the house. To make the fire I had Ryan make a couple of fuzz sticks. I figured he may as well learn it all. We had a nice afternoon.

My daughter called me a bit ago, to let me know Ryan went to bed with the peanut in the pocket of his pajamas.

Funny, as much as I liked that knife, I had a great time giving it away.

Heck, when the boy gets a little more size on him I have a surplus of sodbusters around.
 
jackknife said:
No, I still loved the little knife, but it's found a new home.

My grandson, Ryan, has turned 10 and his mom, my daughter Jess, has agreed that its time for him to have a pocket knife. I gave it some very careful thought and today we went for a walk in the woods and I gave him my yellow handle peanut I got just recently. He had admired it very much, and it fit his hands well.

We whittled some under a shade tree, and he got the feel of it, so I gave him a block of instruction on how to whittle the pefect hot dog roasting fork. We found the perfect branch, sized to fit the hot dog with each of the two prongs of the sharpened fork a third of the way from each end of the dog. A boy should know how to make the perfect weiner stick. We built a small fire and roasted the couple of hotdogs I had stashed in my pack just before leaving the house. To make the fire I had Ryan make a couple of fuzz sticks. I figured he may as well learn it all. We had a nice afternoon.

My daughter called me a bit ago, to let me know Ryan went to bed with the peanut in the pocket of his pajamas.

Funny, as much as I liked that knife, I had a great time giving it away.

Heck, when the boy gets a little more size on him I have a surplus of sodbusters around.
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jackknife,

Thank You for allowing me to relive mine and when I gave my kids there first knife.. Super Great Story here!! We all have a little different one like this and this one is a classic!!

I must admit when I got to the line I highlighted I LOL'd and shed a tear of joy for both you and your Grandson.:p

Thanks again for sharing this with us and God Bless You and all of Yours!!

Best,
Tony
 
That's what life is all about Jacknife. Thanks for sharing it. I still fondly remember the day I gave my sons their first pocket knives.
 
Great tale, ya old softie. I don't think of it as giving it away, but more a passing along a heritage. I think of your story today when I'm skinning some friut at work with my yaller peanut. 'Preciate your sharing with us.
 
Great story! It sure feels good to give doesn't it. I gave my little yellow peanut to my wife about a year ago and she still carries it about everyday. A couple of months ago I gave my ten year old daughter a vic. recruit and she is proud of it.
Being a 'knife guy' there is a connection in giving a knife as a gift. Jim
 
Jackknife I want you to write a book. I mean it. You dont have to get it published. Do an internet self publishing thing, when you have it printed and ready, let us know. I bet alot of us would buy one, me too, just dont charge too much.
 
My dad and I have been passing knives back and forth ever since I can remember (honestly - my first memories are of getting guns and knives from my dad!) Anyway, for this past Father's Day I happened across a great gift - I found an older Case stockman that had been brought back to life with new blades and repaired redbone handles. It was the best of both worlds; a brand new knife with good blades and strong springs ready for everyday carry that had beautiful worn handles that only a Case can make look so good. The reason it caught my eye is that it was I think almost exactly the same model my dad bought when he was in the 6th grade, some almost 50 or so years ago. That knife got him through life as a real cowboy working cattle growing up and saw him through 4 years of service in the Marine Corps. The knife I bought was such a close match to his knife that he thought I had snuck his old knife out of the gun safe and had the blades changed out! I knew I did good because he couldn't say much about it, but rather just held it his hands all day long with a look that says more than "thank you" ever will.
 
Its such a deep pleasure to give something of yours away to someone who you know will not just cherish it, but put it to good use.

I have found as I have aged, alot of my tastes have changed, as well as needs. It seems like materialisim takes a back seat these days to a deeper spirtualisim that transends material stuff. In short I need less to get by.

I'm sure I have told of Karen and my efforts to lighten our loads. We have slowly over the course of the last year or two given alot of our stuff to the kids, grandkids, nephews, nieces, and friends.

Now don't get me wrong, I kept my favorite guns, cigar box of pocket knives and such. But I gave away more than I kept. Like my old Marlin 30-30. I have'nt hunted in years, and this nice rifle was just sitting there. I knew deep down I was never going to take it afield again, so I gave it to my youngest boy, Matt. This past winter he bagged a nice buck with it, and he had the Mrs. and me over for a venison dinner. Matt had photos of the hunt, and I watched his face as he told me of getting that old buck. I can't even begin to describe the extreme deep pleasure of seeing how that old Marlin gave my son the thrill of a good kill, and us having a wonderfull dinner. A pleasure that was as deep as my daughter Jess calling me to tell me that my grandson had my old peanut in his pajama pocket.

If I had kept all this stuff and something happened to me, and in my will it was all handed out to the right people, what good does that do? I'm having a ball giving to those I love now while I can still enjoy watching them use it. Like that old Marlin. Hell, it was sitting there in the gun rack, but now it has a new owner that takes care of it, and its seeing the crisp winter woods again being carried and used for its intended purpose. Our oldest boy, John, travels alot for his job. He's lived for months at a time in Amsterdam, Buenos Aries, and now in San Jose in Costa Rica. So I gave him a couple of my better sak's that have a good array of usfull tools, but won't attract unwanted attention going through customs. John has told me many times how handy it has been having a sak in some far off place, but that his real appreatiation of them has been when he's opening a can of something in his appartment, or using it on a rain forrest tour, that holding it makes him feel a little closer to Karen and me.

It really is so much better to give, than receive.
 
My daughter called me a bit ago, to let me know Ryan went to bed with the peanut in the pocket of his pajamas.
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I'm not much of an 'Awwww' kinda guy, but that brought a big smile to my face!
 
Amos Iron Wolf said:
Jtb, that's just too cool. Great story that really touches. Thanks for sharing.
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I'm glad you enjoyed. I've found countless good reads on here that really touch me from time to time. I used to just read for technicial info or reviews or such. Now I've found that just hearing folks' stories can be a lot more entertaining.
 
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