Friday, September 9, 2016

Connections

I'll written about this before--the many connections that seem to pop up when I visit my mother. She still lives in the small town where I grew up and when I visit, I always see someone or the other that I know. Let me put that differently. I always see several someones or the other that I know. It's all pretty interesting how it works out sometimes.
Ward's new knife is so sharp that it literally split a hair!

Last time I visited, I took my mother's watch to the jewelry store to be fixed. The owner was the cousin of one of my friends from school and as it turns out used to work with my father in the summers when he was in college. During the visit to pick up the watch (which he didn't charge for because he knew my mother), I met Ted who went to school with my sister. He was a master knife maker and had brought one in to show the owner of the store. During the course of the conversation, I told him how Ward would like to see his work. So he said next time we're in town, give him a call.

Well, I called him during this last visit and Ward spent the day with Ted making a knife. (Being the carnivore that he is, he made a meat carving knife.) Ward had a wonderful time and was very excited about the knife and learning about the process. He also related that Ted had had the same cancer that he had and that his mother had also been in the same facility that my mother is in. However, she had recently died at the ripe old age of 95. And for just one more connection, I told him I knew that because Ted's mother's room was the one my mother had just been transferred into. Such is the circle of life. And connections.



8 comments:

  1. Wow, that knife is impressive!

    Connections are fun to make. Glad you have found so many.

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    1. It's so sharp, I've decided not to use it. I'm a little clumsy sometimes. Connections are fun and comforting in a way.

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  2. To me the overlap of events and people is so interesting. I guess we really are all connected.

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    1. I think we all are connected in one way or another. I guess that's why the theory of Six Degrees of Separation was developed. In a small town, it usually takes many fewer than six.

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  3. Cue the Munchkins! It's a small world after all...

    I was just thinking last night about how certain people seem to cycle into our lives. When I was a kid I played in an area youth orchestra. I was decidedly mediocre, and I was always a bit intimidated by the girl who sat in the first chair position - she was sooo good! I didn't know her very well at the time, but she was always very nice.

    Fast forward about 20 years and she ended up applying for a job as a teacher at the music school I was running! These days I chat with her daily on Facebook and we often run into each other as we're both into cycling and the same sorts of music.

    I was thinking about that last night as I was watching the Broncos game. John Elway, Gary Kubiak (head coach), Wade Phillips (defensive coordinator), and a bunch more guys most people wouldn't know - their lives and careers have all been intertwined in very interesting ways. The roles keep changing, but the relationships make it all work.

    The Buddhists say that this sort of thing isn't an accident... that we're drawn to certain people, and that they find their way into our lives (in the Buddhist view over many lifetimes) in ever changing ways.

    Sorry to ramble, but I just find it very comforting... the idea that somehow, in some way that we don't completely understand, the people we're supposed to be with find their way into our lives.

    BTW, "master knife maker?" I've never heard of such a thing! I suppose it makes sense, but it just never occurred to me that a knife could be made by hand? How does he make the blades?

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    1. I like the idea that certain people we need make it into our lives. We could have a big philosophical discussion about how much control we have over that, but let's just go with the Buddhist idea for now.

      The blade for the knife starts with a sheet of steel. Then all kinds of heat and things are added depending on how the knife is to be used. Ward was very excited to learn about the physical chemistry of it all and shared a lot. After the steel was processed, it was cut and polished. Once again, the polishing is pretty involved and depends on how you want to use the knife.

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  4. Looks like a nice knife and that Ward and the knife maker enjoyed each other's company.

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    1. Ward really did have a great time. Visits with my mother are very hard both physically and emotionally and Ward never complains. I was glad that he got to do something fun this time.

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What do you think?