I was surprised to receive a call from my father's cousin earlier this year to suggest that since she and her husband were downsizing for a move to smaller housing she had some things that I might like to have. To my delight, she offered me her grandmother's shelf clock which I never even knew existed. To be sure, this is a family heirloom although, to be fair, her grandmother who would in normal circumstances have been my great grandmother was not related to me at all. But that's a story for another post one day. Suffice it to say, the genealogy in that generation was confusing.
One of the employees that works for my son does clock repair and has agreed to try to get the old time piece ticking and tocking once more. Actually, I was not as concerned about having the clock work again as I was in finding a place for it in our home. It is now on a shelf that was installed as a nice, indoor New Years Day project. The shelf was a Christmas gift for my wife Jennifer who, although she liked the clock, was beginning to view it as one more thing to clean around. She was a bit skeptical about a shelf that was of no use until it was installed somewhere.
The clock is now on the new shelf in the room at the bottom of the stairs and it will be a constant reminder of a generation that lived off the land and counted a clock like this as a special luxury in an otherwise practical lifestyle. Clocks have faces and come face to face with any who check to see what time it is. As I pass by, I would like to believe that all those faces that have been reflected in that old dial are looking back at me. I have been blessed with many generations of hard working country folks who have made my life what it is. Hope they are looking at me with some sense of approval.
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