[ WP ] You wear a watch that does not work .

Do you know that moment when everything just works? If you do n't, I hope that some day you find your moment. 
 
 It does n't matter if you throw the perfect pass in a football game to win the championship, or if it is finding the right career that you are passionate about, that drives you to get up every day. It is that feeling you get when you know that right now, today, tomorrow, next week? 
 
 This is the moment you will remember for the rest of your life, one that will help define you, develop you as a human being, making you a better and stronger person. This is what you were meant to do, who you were meant to be, and why you exist. 
 
 I have had one of those moments. 
 
 We met in high school, a year apart in grade. It was a typical day. My friends and I were eating lunch in the cafeteria when for some reason I was compelled to look across the large room. I'd never seen her before. She was laughing and talking to her friends, but there was something about her. 
 
 It was that moment. When I looked at her, there may well have been nobody in the room but her and I. For a moment, when she took a sip of her drink, her beautiful eyes looked from her friends and over to me. 
 
 Butterflies. 
 
 Butterflies yes, and a knowledge that it was n't just some innocent flirtation. It was n't just two people who gave nervous glances, looking at and away. It was, for me, my moment. 
 
 We both graduated from high school and being a year apart, I had left for college across the country. I was n't very focused in my schooling, but I had good enough grades to get into a decent college. It was a challenge, that first year. It would n't be long even if it felt like it, she graduated and joined me in college. she could have gone to any school of her choice, but she came to me because it was where we were. 
 
 We would go on to graduate from school and move on to careers, eventually having children of our own. Two wonderful kids; a boy and a girl. It was n't always perfect, but the knowledge that this was it a part of our journey together, is what we were here for. 
 
 They have both grown up to be amazing and loving parents of their own. We have enjoyed the holidays together, seeing their successes and helping them through their troubled times. When we saw them with their loved ones, we could see it in their eyes for one another. 
 
 It was that same look we shared so many years ago. It was not long before there were grand-kids running around the house. The holidays were always the best times. We were gifted with so many over the years that it is impossible to keep track of them all. Especially at my age. Last Christmas was for me the most special of them all. That was when I got this watch. 
 
 It may not look like much, but it was just like the one I had when I was younger. She found it on the internet for me, some place on the east coast. the catch was, the watch did n't work. She figured, with all the spare time we have being retired, I could get it to work. 
 
 I had the same watch when we met so many years ago and wore it for years, but like all things, eventually stop working. I would have bought one if I had found one, but you know how it is with life. you get busy, some things become less important while other things become more important. My family is the most important thing to me. 
 
 In February, things took a turn. We spent more time at the hospital than we did at home. It seemed whenever she was well enough to go home for any stretch, she would have to go right back in. They were hard days. She spent most of her time sleeping and I would sit there in my chair next to her bed, and watch over her. She was so still. I could see the strong woman I had known through my life but she was also that young girl I wanted to take care of. I did n't know what to do. 
 
 I fell asleep from time to time in that chair and sometimes when I opened my eyes, she would smile at me and tell me she remembered how that one day, so many years ago she got butterflies because a boy looked across a crowded room at her. She lifted her hand to me and I reached out and took it. Those same eyes, those beautiful eyes were unchanged by the years. 
 
 It was on February 23rd at 7:48 pm when she had to leave us. There was no condition, no disease to hate. It was just her time. The girl turned woman, turned grandmother had to let go. 
 
 I spent the next month fixing the watch she gave me for Christmas. I had to learn how to use the internet, thankfully I have an able and patient grandchild who did most of the work finding all the parts I needed, and the physical work due to my shaking hands. We closed up the back of the watch and spun the arm. 
 
 The watch began to tick and the second hand began to work its way clockwise around the face of the watch. A feeling of sadness washed over me, and I hoped she was able to see us repair the watch, wherever she is. 
 
 I left the watch on the table and ordered some pizza for my assistant. A reward for a job well done. His father picked him up a little after seven and thanked me for watching over him after school. I always considered the days I got to spend with my grandchildren a blessing. 
 
 The house was quiet now. I ca n't say I was used to it. I walked into the kitchen and began to clean up the remainder of the pizza dinner on the table when I saw the watch. I picked it up by the brown leather band and turned it over. Picking up the small screw driver I removed the back cover off and proceeded to remove the parts of the watch that would allow the second hand to spin. 
 
 Replacing the cover, I flipped the watch over and strapped it on over my wrist. It was 7:48pm. That was when our moment ended and I will never forget. 
 
 

