A very close friend of mine recently lost both of her parents within a span of eight weeks. It was absolutely horrific and something that no one should have to experience. Aside from the emotional trauma of the actual loss and all that it entailed, my friend and her sister were next charged with cleaning out their parents’ home of forty years and putting it on the market. This was no small task and many obstacles – logistic and emotional – got in the way of it being a smoother process. All in all, it took them nearly three months to complete the job; each piece that they handled evoked memories and each sister agonized over what to do with everything they came across.

Much of the contents of the house were given to charitable organizations which was a nice way for the women to do something meaningful in their parents’ names. Other pieces they wound up taking to their respective homes as remembrances. One of the things that my friend came home with was an absolutely gorgeous grandfather clock that belonged to her father. I was really awestruck by it; and it seemed to work perfectly in her home. She was happy to have something of her dad’s that she could share with her own children and she said that every time the clock chimed she thought of her father singing.

The day I came home from her house I knew that I wanted a grandfather clock for my own home. I wanted something that would remind my kids of home no matter where they went in this life; something that’s sound would spark a happy memory.

How I found my grandfather clock in the next post.