Do you have a memory that is so vivid, so real, that it seems as though all you need do is to close your eyes and you’d be transported back there – back to that very moment in time? Sure, I think we all have those kinds of memories and they are to be nurtured and treasured. But have you ever misplaced one of those memories, only to have something trigger a connection that brought it rushing back? Here’s what happened to me a few weeks ago . . . wait, first let me preface this story by reminding you of two important facts – Rudyard Kipling is my favorite novelist-poet-storyteller and Johnny Cash was, is, and will always be the King, not Elvis – Johnny Cash.
And now . . . back to my story. One afternoon I overheard someone mention that Masterpiece Theater was airing a series of teleplays based on Jane Austin’s novels. Intrigued, I googled to find the schedule and I found that, in addition to the Janeite exhibition, there was a episode scheduled for late April based on the war-time service of Kipling’s son John – entitled My Boy Jack.
. . . For those unfamiliar with this story, Kipling’s only son was desperate to join the service following the outbreak of the Great War, but poor eyesight caused him to be rejected as 
medically unfit for service. The elder Kipling used his influence to secure an appointment for John in the Irish Guards . . . John lost his life during his first action at the Battle of Loos in 1915. The body of Lieutenant Kipling was never recovered (the recent reported discovery of his remains seems to have been proved false), the Kipling’s spent the rest of their lives attempting to come to terms with this loss. This story was not, in all the horror of the First World War, such an unusual tale. But of all the thousands who lost their lives in the battlefields, John's story is one of the most poignant. BBC’s teleplay focuses on the agony of the poet and author over the death of his only son and how, in his despair, he learned the true cost of conflict. My Boy Jack, to be screened next month, stars a now mature Daniel Radcliffe, better known as Harry Potter, who is said to give a haunting and powerful performance as John. Rudyard Kipling is played by Four Weddings And A Funeral actor David Haig, while Kim Cattrall from Big Trouble in Little China plays Rudyard’s American wife Carrie.The episode is set to air April 20 on PBS – don’t miss it!
medically unfit for service. The elder Kipling used his influence to secure an appointment for John in the Irish Guards . . . John lost his life during his first action at the Battle of Loos in 1915. The body of Lieutenant Kipling was never recovered (the recent reported discovery of his remains seems to have been proved false), the Kipling’s spent the rest of their lives attempting to come to terms with this loss. This story was not, in all the horror of the First World War, such an unusual tale. But of all the thousands who lost their lives in the battlefields, John's story is one of the most poignant. BBC’s teleplay focuses on the agony of the poet and author over the death of his only son and how, in his despair, he learned the true cost of conflict. My Boy Jack, to be screened next month, stars a now mature Daniel Radcliffe, better known as Harry Potter, who is said to give a haunting and powerful performance as John. Rudyard Kipling is played by Four Weddings And A Funeral actor David Haig, while Kim Cattrall from Big Trouble in Little China plays Rudyard’s American wife Carrie.The episode is set to air April 20 on PBS – don’t miss it!Once again . . . back to my story. The investigation of My Boy Jack led to a review of Kipling’s Great War story of grief and loss and the comfort found in personal faith entitled The Gardener. I hadn’t read this story in ten years or more, but I immediately found a copy and re-read it that very day. What a flood of memory and emotion was unleashed as I finished the story. Seemingly from out of nowhere, I was hit with a memory from my childhood of a time that my grandpa and I shared together.
Just a few days before Easter in 1978, he told me that he had a surprise for me – he and I were going that very night to see Johnny Cash at the Dallas Sportatorium! Now, I was just a boy, but I was already a HUGE fan of the Man, the Legend, the King – and to say I was excited would be a slight understatement. We left for the show that Wednesday night around 7 PM and stopped on the way for a quick supper of short ribs and pulled pork at Austin's Barbeque, arriving at the show around 8:30. I settled into my seat, prepared, I thought, for anything – I knew that Mr. 
Cash liked to vary his set-lists and styles so would this be a night of rockabilly, bluegrass, hard-country, or some kind of Vegas-styled parody of his TV show (please, not that!). What he delivered was a two hour set of hymns – just the Man, his Guitar, and the Baptist Hymnal. It was incredible – no Cry, Cry, Cry, no Boy Named Sue, no Folsom Prison Blues, nothing but the songs that we sang every Sunday morning – but I felt that I’d never really heard these songs before. As he sang the line from the hymn No Not One that goes, “Jesus knows all about our struggles, He will guide till the day is doneThere's not a friend like the lowly Jesus, no not one, no not one” my grandpa and I were just stunned as the spotlight faded out – we sat there in darkness for a few moments, the crowd was silent – I guess they were overwhelmed, too. As we all began to stir, the spot faded back in and Mr. Cash was still there, sitting on a stool, holding a book. Everyone settled back and quieted down, all attention once more focused on the stage. He looked out at the audience (it seemed as though he were looking right at me) and quietly told a story of a family friend whose body had finally been returned from Viet Nam just the day before. The man had been reported KIA – killed in action, the body not recovered. He told how hard it had been on the family of his friend and how they had prayed for comfort. He said that the night they had been given the news of his friend’s death, he’d been reading a book of short stories – Kipling stories as a matter of fact, the Gardener to be exact. He said that the story had brought him comfort, and so he’d shared it with his friend’s family and that it had helped them through their grief and pain. He then read it aloud to all of us – it was powerful, and wonderful, and very emotional. As he finished the story, the stage lights came up and June joined him, bringing him his guitar. Together, they sang one last song – the hymn “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.”
Cash liked to vary his set-lists and styles so would this be a night of rockabilly, bluegrass, hard-country, or some kind of Vegas-styled parody of his TV show (please, not that!). What he delivered was a two hour set of hymns – just the Man, his Guitar, and the Baptist Hymnal. It was incredible – no Cry, Cry, Cry, no Boy Named Sue, no Folsom Prison Blues, nothing but the songs that we sang every Sunday morning – but I felt that I’d never really heard these songs before. As he sang the line from the hymn No Not One that goes, “Jesus knows all about our struggles, He will guide till the day is doneThere's not a friend like the lowly Jesus, no not one, no not one” my grandpa and I were just stunned as the spotlight faded out – we sat there in darkness for a few moments, the crowd was silent – I guess they were overwhelmed, too. As we all began to stir, the spot faded back in and Mr. Cash was still there, sitting on a stool, holding a book. Everyone settled back and quieted down, all attention once more focused on the stage. He looked out at the audience (it seemed as though he were looking right at me) and quietly told a story of a family friend whose body had finally been returned from Viet Nam just the day before. The man had been reported KIA – killed in action, the body not recovered. He told how hard it had been on the family of his friend and how they had prayed for comfort. He said that the night they had been given the news of his friend’s death, he’d been reading a book of short stories – Kipling stories as a matter of fact, the Gardener to be exact. He said that the story had brought him comfort, and so he’d shared it with his friend’s family and that it had helped them through their grief and pain. He then read it aloud to all of us – it was powerful, and wonderful, and very emotional. As he finished the story, the stage lights came up and June joined him, bringing him his guitar. Together, they sang one last song – the hymn “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.”Wow . . . I’ve seen hundreds, maybe thousands of shows since then, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as significant and personal as that night with my grandpa, Johnny Cash, and Rudyard Kipling.
Don’t ask me how I managed to misplace this memory for past four or five years, but I won’t lose it again – I’ve written it down and shared it with you, now.
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I didn’t tell you much about the specifics of the Gardener because there are a couple of plot twists that might be ruined if I outlined the plot, so please – read it for yourself and tell me what you think.clickety-click
Preview of the BBC’s My Boy Jack – music by the Enya
Johnny Cash and the Carters – Were You There
