Pass it On

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My mother loved clocks. She collected them as long as I can remember. She had cukoo clocks, and an old wooden clock that sat on the mantle or the piano, and chimed. We all knew that she always wanted a Grandfather clock, but we could never afford one, I guess.

In Those Days, I left home while still in high school to get married, leaving my siblings behind to grow up themselves. Just like clockwork, they each left home soon after reaching age 18.

Now, some left to attend college, or trade school, and some just left I guess to spread their wings and find themselves. Eventually, they too, all married and had success. But one story recently popped to mind, that hit home.

My next younger brother had a falling out (like most of us all did at one time or another) with my parents. And I'm not even sure what the conflict was about, but we all knew there was something up.

Well, that went on for quite some time until one Christmas he came home and made amends. In doing so, he gave Mom a beautiful Grandfather clock as her Christmas gift. It was certainly the grandest clock I had ever seen, and Mom cried with joy.

Not long after he returned home, my brother informed Mom that he had financed the clock he gave her, and that he could not make the payments. He said that if she wanted to keep the clock, she would have to pay for it. And she did. And she always loved him.

In recalling the incident recently. my first thought was anger. After all, how mean to make someone pay for a gift that you bought them. But then it occurred to me, that if he had never purchased the clock for her, she would have never realized her dream of owning a Grandfather clock. So, that's how I''ll choose to save that memory.

But, passing things on, at least things that are not yet paid for, just seems wrong. Now, generally, you pass thing down to your children, not up to your parents. That's different.

Now, just because I chose to look at what my brother did in a posative light, doesn't mean it's an appropriate view in what our MacDaddy wants us to do. now. Let's all buy health care and pass the bill to our children, and their children. A novel idea. Just like we do with Social Security and Medicare!

No. No. No! Build the Thought Dock and pay for it before you pass it on.
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