Keeping It Going....

Byron's Grandfather passed away in January.  He was 96 years old.  The changes that man experienced in his life are things I can't even begin to imagine.  We had the funeral and entombment and after the services the entire family went back to his house; the house he and his wife built 54 years ago by themselves, to eat and to share in each others company.  There were stories about Grandpa and Granny (who passed away in January 2002) and how they owned a hardware store, how Grandpa was a private eye for the federal government, about his life flying in WWII and what he must have seen and done then.  We began looking around the house at all of their collectables and how their house has never changed, how the figurines are in the same spot they have been in all their (the children and grandchildren's) lives....

Then I looked over at the Grandfather Clock.  I have been to Granny and Grandpa's house numerous times in the 12 years that Byron and I have been together and the constant in that home whenever I was there was the Westminster Abby chime on that Grandfather Clock.  Let me give you a little background on the clock.   That clock was dedicated by the 3 kids (Jack, Mimi and Bob) to honor Granny and Grandpa on their 40th wedding anniversary.  Granny and Grandpa were married on December 25, 1940.  The clock was dedicated to them on December 25, 1980, 9 months to the day that Byron was born.

I made a comment about how the clock was stopped and on the wrong time.  Byron's dad made a comment about how we should get it going again.  There were several family members sitting in the living room and nobody said a word, so I told Byron's dad "show me how to get it running Dad".  He explained in an edited version how the clock worked, how the phases of the moon part worked, and how to correctly wind the clock to get it working.  So he and I stood there and wound the clock so that it was chiming on the correct time.

As morbid as it is, the list came around a few weeks later of things in Granny and Grandpa's house that we would want.  I immediately signed up for the Grandfather Clock.  I am happy to say that the family agreed that the clock should stay with the Pletcher name, so we got the clock.  Byron brought the clock home, cleaned it, tuned it up, leveled it and set it.  The clock has been chiming the Westminster Abby Chime for the last month in our house, and will continue to chime for the rest of our lives and hopefully beyond.  I walk by the clock everyday and it makes me so happy to have it in our home.  To know that Carter is going to carry on the Pletcher namesake and to have the clock here, it represents Granny and Grandpa, and all of their hard work and love.  Every Saturday the family gathers around the clock and we wind it for the week.

You can't read the plaque all that well, but it says,
40th Wedding Anniversary
December 25, 1940-1980
John and Millicent Pletcher