forged in fire experience

Better left unspoken

My grandfather is a large burly man with an enormous white beard that hides his smile. He can be very intimidating and some of my friends don’t even like being around him. My grandfather was a full-time blacksmith for almost forty years and loved forging with a passion. He took great pride in his creations and became very renowned for his work. Just like any father he wanted to pass on his passion to his children but none of his kids fell in love with blacksmithing like he did. As I started to grow up, he began to realize that there may be a second chance. I began to show interest in metalworking and was constantly in his shop pounding on metal. He gave me my first forge and anvil when I was twelve and I have blacksmith ever since. I created all kinds of thing from bottle openers to scenic stairway railing, but I fell in love with making knives. There’s just something about making a piece of art that is functional that I enjoy so much. I would bring knives to my grandfather all the time to show him how much I was improving.

I did everything because I wanted to make my grandfather proud. I worked hard and constantly tried to impress him with every action, but my paw paw dose not let his feeling show. He has always been very reserved, and dose not let people know how he feel. I always thought this was because he did not want people think he was week after all he was the epitome of a man. I tried everything but he would never give me give me the satisfaction of his pride. In the process of trying to impress my grandfather I became a phenomenal blacksmith. I began selling more and more and even got contracts with some companies to make products for them. I was able to get my name out into the world and make my business grow more than I ever expected. People started to hear of an eighteen-year-old blacksmith from Louisiana and that opened up a lot of opportunities.

Forged in Fire is a reality show where four blacksmiths face off against each other in three rounds of edge weapon making competition. The prize, ten thousand dollars and the title of forged in fire champion. Each round three judges critique the blades and choose the competitor to be eliminated. The first two rounds of the competition are held in New York. They have a beautiful large shop that we did most of our work in. Our challenge was to make a chefs knife in five ours. Somehow I made it passed the first two rounds and for the third round they send you back to your shop to make a sword in thirty five hours. To make a six inch knife it usually takes me about a week so making an entire sword in this amount of time is a monumental task. If I make one mistake I do not have time to fix it. I have to make a ten thousand dollar sword in less time it takes me to make a thirty dollar knife. Not only is this a physical challenge but also a mental one. Blade smithing is a hot, demanding, detailed job that requires a well rested fresh mind. It is difficult to make a knife when you are tired because of the precision that it takes. It was ninety five degrees the week I was forging with eighty percent humidity. The sweat would collect on my shirt and face and at the end of every day I could barely hold my arms up. I could not give up no mater what the sword had to be finished. It has never been so hard to do what I love; my mind and body where being pushed to the max. My face was raw from using my sleeve to wipe my sweat off and I had blisters all over my feet. After I finished I had twelve different cuts all over my hands but some how some way I finished the sword. After thirty five of the longest ours of my life I was so proud of what I had created but not because it was beautiful but it was such a challenge.

After finishing my grandfather came over to inspect the final product. He gave his usual scrutiny “This doesn’t fit up right and this has a scratch right here” but I was used to his constructive criticism. We walked to the shop and I talked him through some of the processes I used. On our way back paw paw stopped me in the middle of our yard and pulled me in for a hug. I cant remember the last time I hugged him we always just shook hands but it made me so happy. Still hugging me he said with low raspy voice “I wont say I am proud of you son because that shoes pride on my part, but god has blessed me with you.” I couldn’t believe he had said that. I had begin to think I was never going to hear it. I always thought it was his pride that kept him from saying it but it wasn’t it was the lack of his pride. He wasn’t going to tell me because he didn’t want me to live in his name; he wanted me to make a name for myself. He doesn’t want me to live for the glory of him but the glory of god. I never had to make him proud, I did that before I ever even started blacksmithing.

I had to fly back to New York for the final testing my sword. No amount of money could replace what he said to me. I thought pride is what my grandfather wanted but I couldn’t be more wrong. My grandfather dose not envy pride he wants all the glory to go to god. It was me who wanted pride. I wanted paw paw to tell me he was proud of me so that I could satisfy my hunger for pride. But what he gave me was much better than that. When something is not often said it means much more when it is. My paw paw never said what he felt because he wanted me to cherish what he said. He wanted me to take to heart what he said but if he would have said it all the time I would have never taken it that way. It means so much more than just something he said. I will hold it in my heart forever and one day tell my grandson at just the right time