Regarding Memorial Day

[KeithDoster]

Bob, I really appreciated your email regarding your grandfather’s watch and Memorial Day. That was so well written and was obviously from the heart. I have my father’s first wristwatch, a Lord Elgin, that he acquired during or shortly after WWII.  I don’t know if he bought it himself, or if possibly my grandmother gave it to him as a gift.  A number of years ago, before my dad died in 2017, he passed it on to me.  It was not running and had seen pretty hard use in the past. I remember him wearing it regularly when I was a kid. He worked in a cotton mill as a loom mechanic so he didn’t treat it with kid gloves. It was a tool to be used, not an object of beauty or value that kept it stashed away only to be seen on special occasions.  I don’t work on watches, so I sent it to a friend/jeweler who serviced it and put an appropriate band on it. But the band is too small and uncomfortable for me. So it sits in a basket on my dresser along with other things that can’t be gotten rid of for one reason or another, but don’t have a particular place to call home. Your email is a good reminder of the history and the life that is attached to that watch. I should wear it. I’m now 70 years old. I’d like to see my son wear it someday, but I doubt he would be interested unless he saw it on me and developed an appreciation for what it represents.  It’s not just a timepiece, but a witness to a brutal war that was, by the grace of God, survived by his grandfather. It witnessed a marriage of 69 years, the birth of three children and their lives, and a life of hard labor which provided for that family. It should go without saying that our personal timepieces, watches in particular, become part of our history and carry on without us after we’re gone, for another generation to appreciate.  Your email is a reminder to me not to forget my Dad and almost an entire century he spent in large part raising and providing for me and the rest of my family. I’ll be looking for another band for it. Thank you.

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