The last gift I gave my grandfather

Doug Add

Doug Add

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Jan 9, 2012
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I have told bits of this story in various posts here and there, and took the picture below this morning for Kevin's gracious strop giveaway.

The recent posts about grandfather's knives by Bigfattyt and hatchetjack were so enjoyable to read I thought I might post a similar story.

I gave this Schrade Walden 708Y to my grandfather for Christmas in 1971, when I was 9 and he was 59. The next autumn he died unexpectedly the result of complications following open heart surgery. I couldn't believe it. My best friend gone.

My dad's parents lived just four houses down from us, almost exactly half way home from my school. Most days I stopped there and piddled around with my grandmother for the half hour or so until my grandfather got home from work. Then the adventures began. He taught me so much about so many things. It really was like growing up with two loving fathers. Considering how many kids today don't even know who their dad is, I consider this a rare privilege.

He always had a knife in his pocket, and of course that made me want one so badly I didn't know what to do. I did save my money and get a Colonial Barlow. It was a cheap knife but he raved about it like it was the finest blade any man had ever made. Knives were just one of things we shared and enjoyed. So, it made perfect sense to give him a knife for Christmas. I had no idea it would he his last Christmas with us.

Weeks after his untimely death Christmas came again. It was a subdued celebration, but we kept all the family traditions. On Christmas Eve the whole family gathered at my grandparents' home for dinner. After we ate, and before my sisters and cousins and I opened presents we all sat silently while Grandad read the Christmas story from the second chapter of Luke's Gospel. That Christmas of 1972 I was honored to be asked by my grandmother to continue his tradition and read the Christmas story to the family. She gave me his Bible, and also the Schrade Walden knife I had given him the year before.

So, here is the last gift I gave Grandad, pretty insignificant compared to all that he gave me in 10 all-too-short years. It is one of my most treasured possessions. In the picture it is sitting on his Bible open to the Christmas story in the second chapter of Luke.

SchradeWalden708Y.jpg
 
Thank you for the story, Doug. It´s sad to hear something like this. He passed away to early, that´s sure. It must have been honour for you reading the part of the bible.

Kind regards
Andi
 
Doug, thanks for sharing. I got to spend a summer with my grandparents in Montana in 1978, and my graddad died December 7th the next year. Tough Christmas for all of us. I've wished many times I'd been able to spend more time with him.

My dad gave me a knife he'd given his dad back in the 60's, a Schrade-Walden Riggers knife. Broken down, worn out and beat up, but it's one of my most treasured possessions.

~Chris
 
Wonderful story. You are fortunate to have been at least old enough to keep memories. I was very lucky to have my Grandfather around into my 30's. I can relate to you wanting a knife like "Grandpa". For me it was a pipe. After work, my grandfather would do chores with a pipe in his mouth and I was given one at 5 y/o so I could emulate him!

With so many families being transient the old days of growing uo in the neighborhood or weekly dinner at Grandma's are fading away. Great story and having the torch passed to you at Christmas must have been very special.
 
Great story; my grandfather was like another dad as well. The only knife I gave my grandfather was a botton lock Queen Copperhead. He liked it but not as well as his carbon blade Shrades and Cases. When I got it back after his death I gifted it to my best friend I grew up with in Knoxville, TN since he was the one that got me into Queen Cutlery.
 
jackknife said:
Great post!

Why is it that grandfathers are so special?
Click to expand...

It was a great read.

I think maybe its something along the lines of what you have said before. At least for me, my grandfather was able to be my friend more so then my father. The father seems to have the burden of being the bad guy. Good thing though, or we wouldn't be raised right.

My grandfather was my best friend.
 
Thank you for the story. I have seen this pic once or twice and appreciated the Bible being there in it but it take on a whole new appreciation now. Thanks again for sharing.
 
That's a great story, Doug. Thanks for posting it. My grandad has been gone for along time now, but I think of him often. He was a wonderful man. His Bible was never far away.
 
I can kinda relate. My grandfather, one of my uncles, and my grandmother's sister all died on January 26, different years, but within 3 hours of each other. I was close to all of them.
That coincidence has made me a superstitious man.
 
Thank You for Your sharing...this got me to thinking of my Pepere and the long walks we would take in the woods...He was my best freind growing up......
 
That was a neat story. I only got to meet my grandfather (on my father's side) once, when we went to visit them for a week. He was a cool guy, I wish I'd known him better.

You're lucky to have spent so much time with yours...

Glenn
 
Great story Doug. I coveted the Shrade 8OT my Pop Pop kept in his desk when I was little.
He only carried it when he went hunting, so that made it even more special.
Iloved him very much and I still miss him.
 
This read was great, Doug you had a special person in your life, I too have major heart surgery coming up "soonish" ( once things get to where they need to be ) and I sympathise with you, its always scary reading things like this, but they exist.. but so did the love for his Grandson towards you, and that is something I never had as a young boy from my Opa ( he was a hard, pretty nasty sort ), and to be honest, at 47 years old, I miss dearly not ever having a neat Grandad - or Opa to think that much of me, I personally think you are a very, very lucky man to have had this gift from him, and now you have yours to him back...thats kinda cool.
 
Thanks for sharing that Doug. I was 20 when my maternal grandfather died, 34 when my paternal grandfather died, so lucky enough to know them both well. Still miss them :)
 
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