The Old Grandfather Clock..

They carried the old Grandfather Clock out the door today.  I watched it pass through the doorway until it disappeared and I felt an old familiar pulling at the heartstrings that I have felt many times before.  The old faithful Grandfather Clock that has stood against many walls in many homes through the years keeping time for us to be punctual for whatever meeting, appointment, bedtime or rising in the morning.  The only time it missed a beat was when it was taken apart and moved to its new home...or the time it needed repairs so it could once again march to the tick-tock of the beat of its heart.

It was a wedding present we gave to each other shortly after we were married in April of 1982.  Thirty-four years it has stood, keeping watch over our little family.  It was there to witness the move into the home we built on Taos Mesa;  it was there in the little Victorian house we bought in Raton and it witnessed a new life enter into our midst.  Little Billy was fascinated by the clock as it struck out its "bong-bong-bong" with every hour.  And he loved the little musical melody it played before each hour and also on the quarter hour.  As Billy grew older, he found it a nuisance when he was trying to record music, and so he would silence the old man.  It followed us to Oregon and into each of the eight homes we have lived in.  Finding just the right wall for it to rest against was sometimes a challenge; other times that perfect wall just presented itself, as if it was waiting for just such a grand old clock.

Thirty four years is a very long time to grow fond of the sound of our Grandfather Clock.  I shall miss it, just as I miss every child that has moved on with his or her life.  It is strangely quiet now, as I am writing this.  It is 7:00 PM and there should be that wonderful melody playing and then "bong-bong-bong-bong-bong-bong-bong!":  But it is gone.  Good-bye, old man...I shall miss you, even if no one else does.