Sometimes Words Are Not Enough

Difficult to adequately explain what this means to me, when you look at the picture what do you see?

I see a promise almost fulfilled.
This was my Grandfathers pocket watch, one of two, this was his ‘working day’ watch the other, not shown, is an Ingersoll, his ‘weekend’ watch. My Grandfather is shown in the additional photograph, you cannot see it but he would have been carrying this watch on a chain in his waistcoat pocket.

Let me tell you a story: My Grandfather died in 1967 and his pocket watches, in good working order, were left to my Mum, his eldest daughter. I was an inquisitive and often naughty fourteen year old. Using a Meccano screwdriver I took the watches apart to see how they worked and totally wrecked them.
I don’t think that saying my mother was distraught would be strong enough, I received the rollicking of a lifetime. She collected all the parts, wrapped each watch in tissue and put them in a paper envelope and placed them up on the dresser telling me; “one day you will understand what you’ve done and then I hope you try to put things right”.
Time passed, I joined the Navy and in the early ‘70’s my Grandmother died, I came home on leave for the funeral. At my parents house later that day my mother handed me the envelope and I promised her I’d get the watches fixed. I hadn’t realised that pocket watches are a specialised trade, not undertaken by most watch makers or repairers. Intermittently over the following decades I tried to get them repaired, always meeting with a “sorry no can do”, I was prepared to pay any price to get them repaired.
In February 2012 my Mum died and I promised myself to try harder, but still no luck.
Until two weeks ago, visiting my friends Richard and Jackie, as I have done every Friday since the pandemic started, I mentioned the pocket watches.
“We have a friend, Pete, who might have a look at them, no promises”

So here we are today, Pete, who I have never met, has worked magic on this one and I’m not ashamed to say I was a little emotional when I had unwrapped it. He is now looking at the second one. It may have taken fifty-four years but I’m getting there, I’m keeping my promise to my Mum.

Sometimes words are not enough.