Glance Back – Chime & Time & Tears

When I sold my first novel Mother Earth Father Sky, my life suddenly turned into something very akin to a fairy tale as the novel hit bestseller lists around the world. My big splurge was to buy a grandfather clock. My husband and I went shopping, and I found the clock of my dreams.

The salesman who helped us knew a lot about clocks, and he warned my husband not to let “the woman touch the clock.” Neil teased me about that, but a few years ago we discovered that our salesman knew what he was talking about. I was winding the clock when I lost my grip on the winding device.  (It probably has a name, but I don’t know what that would be.) The weights suddenly plunged downward and stripped the clockwork gears.

My husband can fix just about anything, but when he checked the clock he discovered that the damage was so severe we would have to replace the whole clockwork. The cost of that clockwork, to my sorrow, was about half of what we paid for the clock.

By then my life was no longer dedicated to full-time writing. Instead I pretty much had a full-time job taking care of our parents. Since I wasn’t bringing in a steady income, I couldn’t justify spending hundreds of dollars to fix a grandfather clock. So for one year and then another and then another my clock sat there. No chime, no time.

This past week our mail included a card to me from my niece Angie and her husband Chris.

I opened the card and four photographs of their sweet little daughter fell out. I stood there smiling at the pictures, and then I read the letter that Angie had enclosed. This is a portion of what she wrote:

“Dear Aunt Sue,

“Over the years you have dedicated so much of your time and energy taking care of Grandma and Grandpa Harrison….You continue to show your gracious spirit by caring for not only for our grandparents, but your own parents….We couldn’t be happier to have you in our life.

“As a token of our appreciation, we wanted to do something for you.

“You have mentioned over the years how much the grandfather clock has meant to you….Also, how the gears were stripped when “the woman shouldn’t touch it.” The family was able to collect enough money and, thanks to Uncle Neil, the clock has been fixed. We hope this small gesture will bring you joy during a time when your life has been dedicated to caring for everyone around you.

“We all love you very much…”

The card was signed by my Harrison nieces and nephews, my sisters-in-law, our daughter and son and daughter-in-law.  I stood there holding that card, crying my eyes out!

Later, when my husband came home, he started the clock. It’s been keeping perfect time ever since. When it sings to us with its beautiful Westminster Chimes, I think of all the lovely planning and plotting that stretched across this country from Chicago to Michigan to Virginia and Pennsylvania from Tennessee to California and Arizona and Colorado, and my gratitude knows no bounds. Thank you ever and always, my precious family.

I am so blessed!

Sue