Soon I will have the custom guitar for which I have waited more than a year. I decided to build this guitar now because even though I have never done anything this extravagant before, and felt guilty to be indulging myself this way - it is a tribute. My folks, Bernice (uka Becky) and Charlie (hka Charles) have died in the last ten years and after the sale of the homestead in Darien, CT - all the brothers got a little cash. I wanted to build the guitar to honor my parents. It was my mother who asked me not to play too loud, so I learned to fingerpick. It was my father who rewrote the words to every hymn he ever sang in church and encouraged me by his example to write my own songs. Both of them loved music - in the end - even mine.
I miss my parents, even though I take them with me every day. Sorry folks - the humor comes from Mom who never missed an opportunity for a quick pun or quip and who taught me early to pounce on any poorly written headline for an easy and cheap laugh. Ah, the speed at which that woman could rip poor grammar to shreds - I miss that. My father was the most Godly man I ever knew. Now to those of you who don't believe in God - I'm sorry - my father did and lived every day to please God and to pattern his life after Jesus. And - not in the way those on the religious right do today. I could tell you story after story, example after example of how this simple man who finished high school well into his forties, and who worked in a factory by day, and as a handyman by night had a profound influence on those around him. At his memorial service in 2001, people spoke, one after another for more than two hours about how Charlie had made an impact on their lives. My brothers and I were very lucky to have Charlie and Becky as our parents. And so - the instrument that brings me great joy is a tribute to them, to their hard work and encouragement of all their sons.
I will speak more later about the process of building the guitar, the difficulty and falling out with the guy who gave me the wood, the great work that Chuck Sanzone, the luthier has done - later in another post.
For now - a tribute to the folks:
Charles Knudsen - 1916-2001
Bernice Knudsen - 1916-2008
