6 months ago, a customer reached out to me through my store on Etsy. They asked if I had any knives that needed cleaning or reprofiling. At first I thought the request somewhat strange. Repair lots are somewhat easy to find elsewhere, so It seemed sort of like a guy walking up to a carpenter to buy some wood. Sure he's got it, but wouldn't he rather be the guy to use it? I, however, as you can probably imagine, have more knives than time to do something with them, and I was curious to see where this would go. I sent him a picture of 5 old project knives, told him 20 for them including shipping. They were rusty and rough, but even with our limited conversation I could sense his excitement. He told me he was 75 years of age and looking for a new hobby. He signed off by saying "now the adventure starts".
That really affected me I think. I thought how cool, 75 years old and excited about this hobby of mine that almost no one else I know cares about even a little. I like to send little freebies out anytime I sell a knife, but I felt something special about this man, and I was genuinely excited and grateful that he chose me and my store. In addition to the five knives he thought he wa getting, i included another 4 old knives and the book knife Repair and Restoration by Adrian Harris. He messaged a week later with his thanks, which most wouldn't take the time to do. I gave him my email address, told him about allaboutpocketknives.com, and told him to reach out if he had any questions or just wanted to chat about knives.
I assumed, however, that that would be the end of our pleasant exchanges. It wasn't though, and I'm again truly grateful that he chose to email me about a month later. He told me all about what he'd been working on and the new tools in his shop. He sounded like a kid on December 26th! I was so happy for this jovial man!
After a few exchanges we also began to chat about our families and lives, not just shop talk. His family has been farming the soil of South Carolina since the mid 1700's. He's a veteran, having served in the navy for ten years. His father was career military. He recently told me of his grandson's deployment. I suspect those of his name have been spilling the brightest shade of crimson red blood for this country since before it was a country, and will continue to do so for generations. He was unfortunately badly wounded while serving in what I imagine must have been a heroic role in our amphibious forces, durung the Vietnam war in 1970. He was medically discharged in 1971.
He retired at 58, at which point he said the pain from his injuries were too great to work through. He could still do things he enjoyed, just slower. Then his pain was so bad he couldn't walk more than ten feet. Then he had a heart attack. Then a COPD diagnosis. It seemed like he was depressed and worn out. Then he said he watched the Knife Dr. on youtube, and thinking about some of knives he has, thought to himself "you can do this". That's when he reached out to me. With his new mobility scooter, and knives to think about and work on, he set out on his new adventure.
He's since gotten much better with a computer and emails. His craft has enhanced. He loves reprofiling broken tips most it seems. But he also loves a good ol' restore, starting on a rust pile and making it usable again. I've imparted to him my fondness for working on shell handled knives. He's shown me restoration jobs he's done. It's really great work, paint jobs and all. He calls me his apprentice, which is silly because he's been around knives since before I was alive but it makes me smile. Recently, he cobbled together two camp knife main blades on one frame and called it the Mooserat. I've been working on my own and we talk about it, and life, every day now.
He later told me that knives changed his life. They let him go out to his shop and forget the world, forget all of his pain. If you're reading this, by chance, sir Knife Doctor from YouTube, good on you sir for your part in changing the trajectory of someone's life (also please reach out to me, it'd be great for Lee to hear from you!).
Recently, Lee has had many other issues. The COPD is now complicated by asthma. He's also in heart failure, AFIB. Admitted to the ER twice this week for low heart rate and oxygen levels. He's been given bad news before and surely felt terrible, but could still crack a joke and show concern for me and my family as I went through a difficulty that seems like a walk in the park by comparison. Today though, I could feel his pain in his words as I read them. He's unable to be with his wife of 52 years today as she has shoulder replacement surgery, because he's unable to leave his home due to the extent of his ailments. I know this must absolutely crush him, to not be able to be there for his wife. I simply can't imagine how he feels.
Lee is my hero. He's been so kind to me and my family. The knives he's gifted me are my most treasured possessions. He's been there for me when I was struggling, even though he's literally struggling to breathe. He's put his life on the line for all of us, and paid dearly. Knives changed his life! How cool is that! Maybe we can change his. He said today "I'm in bad shape buddy". No jokes accompanying.
Help me now please, brothers and sisters. Help me to pray for strength and healing for my friend, for an American hero. Help this man to breathe easy. Help him as he commits himself, battered and bruised as he may be, to yet another call to service: aiding his wife in her recovery. Pray also for her today. For comfort and healing. And strength. They'll both need it as they lean on each other, as they have for so long.
Thanks for your time in reading this today
God Bless him. What an inspiration.
God bless you for the things you've done for him and may God bless him and his family. 
