The Watchmaker

This morning as I put on my watch, I thought about the watchmaker.

A kind and generous, gentle man with big hands executing small, precise, delicate maneuvers. Hands that taught two dozen nieces and nephews and their kids a secret family handshake. Hands that made a girl a jewelry box with little hinges and a velvet lining. Hands that held kid after kid after kid on his lap, allowing them to use his entire body as a slide. Hands that came off a steering wheel to insert and eject cassette tapes of Gloria Estefan and Iron Butterfly while driving his teenage niece and her brother to the beach in North Carolina.

New York - 1975 or '76

Minneapolis 1998

Small, precise, delicate maneuvers, establishing our solid movement in life.

I'll miss you and your fantastic laugh, ya bastard.

Uncle Andy