My Grandfather's Clock

    Dad was very fond of and often sang an old song called "My Grandfather's Clock," which it turns out is a bluegrass standard and later a record by Johnny Cash from 1959. It starts off that his grandfather's clock was too tall (Dad's version) or wide (Johnny's version) for the shelf so it spent 90 years on the floor. Since the next line is that it was taller by far than the old man himself, Dad's version makes more sense, but I guess the writer or Johnny didn't want to say "tall" in two straight lines.
    (Spoiler alert) The upshot is that it ran 90 years but never again when the old man died. It would be fairly poignant even without having a dad who lived past 90 and died this year and who loved the song and sang it a lot. What brings it up is that his watch has stopped. It did not run 90 years or even nine, but still. Margaret had bought him a fabulously expensive watch that disappeared during dialysis or a hospital stay. Maybe he lost it or maybe it was stolen. I didn't go out of my way to get him a cheap replacement, of course, but obviously when you've lost one expensive one, there may be less stress in your life if your next watch is less expensive. My brief was to find him one with numerals large enough for him to see and I succeeded with an Armitron. It was maybe three or four years old; they usually run longer than that. I could get a new battery, but I prefer a watch with an alarm and stopwatch and such like. Also he didn't have my girly little wrists, so I would need a new battery and a new strap. I'm happy letting it go out with him. Sort of an everyday song cue for a wonderful song.