It is with great displeasure that I report a tragedy of tragedies in the hopes that I might warn any potentially 'butter-fingered' soul of experiencing the same mournful loss that I am at this moment.

Always, never, fondle your 170 year old blade 5 ft. above concrete when showing your prized possession to others. As in my case, it may slip ever so stealthly from your hand in a downward, pitiful, magnetic vector to the unforgiving ground below yeilding an unforgettable 'ping' of a most decided separation of blade from tang. Woe is me.