A Great Old Timer

Mrs. RCS continues to surprise me.

One of the most influential men in my life was my Grandad on my mother’s side.  He was one of the hardest men I’ve ever known, and I admired him immensely.  He raised my mother and her sister an hour south of Charlotte, NC in Lancaster County, SC.  The ‘town’ is known as Heath Springs.  We spent quite a bit of time with them over our childhood and until his death about a dozen years ago.

He was an ROTC graduate from Clemson, spent serious time in Europe during WWII, came back to South Carolina, married my grandmother, raised two girls, and taught school in town.  Pure Americana.  He was an IPTAY member for over 60 years.  He had the best vegetable garden I’ve ever seen.  His rose bushes were things of beauty.  He rarely bought anything new (except his brown Ford Crown Victoria), instead opting to fix whatever he had.  They had two small garages on their property that were filled with anything but cars, and it sustained their livelihood.  Some of my best, and most cherished memories are in Heath Springs, SC.

One thing about Granddad is that he carried a pocket knife every day.  Everywhere he went.  Arguably his most cherished possession, he would oil and sharpen it quite a bit.  He taught me how to spit on the stone and use a circular motion.  I thought it was rocket science, but a very important life lesson.

Bringing this back to Mrs. RCS…her memory is astounding.  She never had the pleasure of meeting my Granddad but has listened to my stories quite a bit.  She remembered one where my brother and I went in to get Granddad a new pocket knife for Christmas back when we were in high school.  He had sharpened his knife so much that the blade had needled and was getting brittle.  My brother and I bought him an Old Timer with three blades that we thought he’d put to good use.  Our Granddad loved the knife and carried it with him until his passing.

L came into my home office last week and handed me an envelope.  She was grinning, and said ‘I think you’ll like it’.  Having no idea what I was digging into, I opened it and saw the box.  I don’t know why, but I immediately knew what it was.  She found the same knife as my Granddads at an online estate sale and got it.  Of course, she could have gotten one from Amazon, but the fact that she saw it, thought of my stories, and surprised me with it makes it extremely special.  She’s a good woman.

I’ll be carrying this one for a while.  I might even get a sharpening stone and show the boys how to make an edge.