THE CHRISTMAS CLOCK

I don't know exactly  when it happened - when Christmas stopped being fun - but it was a very long time ago.  It was about that time - that time when custom and hormones blended together to completely addle my brain into thinking that even at such a tender age I was ready to make life choices that were thought to last a lifetime.  It was that time when young boys and young girls had come into their "season" and suddenly they were certain that no one else had ever felt this way.  That's the time I'm talking about.

Fast forward several years and Christmas rolls around again and I said, "What do you want for Christmas?"  "Oh, I don't know…Surprise me."  This from a woman who had already purchased gifts months ago, wrapped them and stored them in top of the hall closet with the warning: STAY OUT!  While I, on the other hand, had just become aware of this urgency that was presently turning my guts into jelly.

So without any help and very little money, I headed down to 3rd Street ( this was before malls when all the good stores were down town where the banks and "picture shows" were ).  

I stopped to look at a clock in a jewelry store window.  Now, I think that would be the ticket - I thought.  My guts were in a turmoil.  The clock was busy with delicate romantic figures and designs with two angels on top - it was all molded glass or ceramic material.  The man who was helping me said it was made in Austria.  Austria?  I asked. He also added that since it was so late - Christmas Eve to be exact - he marked it down from #49.95 to $29.95.  I had $35 and change.  These were 1949 dollars.  I said, "Wrap it up".  He assured me that I had done well.  That actually helped, as I recall.

She loved it.  I should have learned something from all this but I did not.  The angels broke off within the first year and I glued them back on.  She loved that clock for decades.  She loved filigree and romance.  That clock had it all.