new member from Canada

[Lawrence]

Good day,

When I was 5 years old, my parents moved to a different house in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The fellow next door, Joe, was in the process of building his house, and as I didn’t have any friends on the street yet, I spent much of my time watching and talking to him. He often said that he never met a 5 year old with so much to say (my wife says the same now). This was where I was introduced to my first pocket knife. If I recall correctly, Joe had some sort of stockman, and I was absolutely mesmerized. I used to wait for Joe to show up so that I could see his knife, and he even let me open and close it myself.
In my 5 year old mind I devised a plan which included a small lie, which I’m not totally proud of. One Saturday I told Joe that my father sent me over to see if we could borrow his knife. I remember Joe asking me a few questions, but in the end, I ended up with the pocket knife in my hands. An hour later or so, my dad and I visited some friends on the other side of town. They lived next to a big field, and a couple of kids and I were throwing rocks and ‘dirt bombs’ into the field. I had the knife (closed) in the same hand as the rocks, and stupid me threw the knife into the field. I panicked, cried, and had to come clean with my dad. I remember a number of adults combing around in the field looking for the knife to no avail. I had to tell Joe that I had lied to him, and that I lost his knife.

Fast forward 46 years. The memory came to mind and I recounted the story for my wife, and the first thing she says is “You mean to say that after all these years, you have never gone out and bought Joe a replacement knife?”…more as a command, as opposed to a question. So I went out and bought Joe a nice stockman knife. Joe is still living next to my parent’s house and is about 80 years old now. One day, when I was visiting my parents, Joe was working in his garden and I called him over. He’s always happy to see me. I asked him if he remembered the time when I was little, while he was building his house…with a smile he answered “yes”…and the time you gave me your pocket knife…and with a big smile he said “yes I remember well”. So I let him know that after all these years, I had a present for him.
Words cannot capture the spirit of that moment, and the connection we had, without getting all mushy. I guess this small gesture, many years later, reminded us of how much time has passed, and the importance of memories. I asked if Joe would put the knife in his pocket, and carry it with him for a while, and he gladly did because he said that he has always carried a pocket knife… “you need one all the time when you are working in the garden”.

I look forward to spending much more time on the AAPK site…learning and observing. Until this point it seems that I have been on my own, collecting the odd knife here and there, but this site has raised my awareness up a few hundred notches. I have just started collecting with more focus, so I’ll probably have lots of questions. I have also recently acquired a number of old pocket knives and I’m trying to do a bit of homework. The knives I love the most tell a story, and were an important part of people’s lives. Thank you to all the good folks on this site for maintaining such a valuable resource.

Oh, and by the way, my name is Lawrence…and I live in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

[ken6]

Great story

[jerryd6818]

Lawrence -- Welcome to AAPK. It's good to have you here. That was a great story.

[tjmurphy]

Hey Lawrence, welcome to AAPK Great story, eh(sp?).

[jerryd6818]

Hey Lawrence, welcome to AAPK Great story, eh(sp?).

Take off ya hoser.

[gino]

WELCOME!

[TripleF]

Excellent story Lawrence. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Glad to have ya at AAPK

[tjmurphy]

Hey Lawrence, welcome to AAPK Great story, eh(sp?).

Take off ya hoser.

[jerryd6818]

That's because you've never watched "The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew" a 1983 movie staring Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas.


"My brother's a genius, eh. He hooked up his own stereo."

[313 Mike]

Welcome Lawrence, great story, thanks for taking the time to share it with us!

Mike

[big monk]

____________great story,and welcome****

[Lawrence]

Thanks for the warm welcome! cheers

[orvet]

Welcome aboard Lawrence.

[Knife Nut]

Welcome to a great site Lawrence.
Loved your story!

Paul

[Classic Case]

to the site.

[philco]

Welcome to AAPK

I too enjoyed reading your story.

[Rookie]

Great story Lawrence. You are very welcome here.

[chuckv]

what agreat story Lawrence.I did something similar when I was about 11 my dad gave me some money to give to afriend of his.On my way I had to pass a sporting goods store that had several pocket knives on display.Well you guessed it I spent some of the money to buy aknife.I am 80 years old and to this day I can still recall the whupin I got.worst part I never got to keep the Knife.Chuck from gooderham ont canada

[Lawrence]

what agreat story Lawrence.I did something similar when I was about 11 my dad gave me some money to give to afriend of his.On my way I had to pass a sporting goods store that had several pocket knives on display.Well you guessed it I spent some of the money to buy aknife.I am 80 years old and to this day I can still recall the whupin I got.worst part I never got to keep the Knife.Chuck from gooderham ont canada

thanks ChuckV...you should tell your story, with a bit more detail, for everyone's reading pleasure. If this memory has lasted all these years there's got to be more to it...like, what kind of knife was it?...and if I have done my math right, the great war was on.