Sunday Search: Telling Time

Having spent the last couple of months sorting through family photos it was time to change things up a bit. Sometimes it can get a little repetitive looking at the two dimensional as it can be difficult at times to peer over to the other side of the lens. It is times like these when I like to pull open my dresser drawer and hold the items that have been passed down to me through the family. While there are a variety of items from rings and cuff links to spoons and other knickknacks, there is a small collection of watches that I seem to go back to more often than the other items.

The Timex at the top of the photo is by no means a valuable wrist watch. It is a very simple, heavily worn watch that my grandpop used to wear. That is where the value is for me. I don’t have many memories of my grandpop but there is something about holding an item that he wore every day that brings a sense of connection and makes me wonder what that watch had been through and where it may have been as well.

The pocket watch at the bottom of the picture is something that represents both sides of my family. My great grandmother gave this Howard watch from the 1920’s to my dad years ago. He added the chain where you can see his initials. A few years ago he passed this watch down to me and I have taken it all over the world while it has also served as inspiration for numerous creative endeavors in the past. It is something that represents my mom’s family and, while I don’t recall him ever using it, something that reminds me of my dad.

The three watches in the middle came to me at different times in my life. The Citizen on the right is the first watch that I bought and it served me well for a couple of years. The Invicta in the middle was given to me by my brother at the rehearsal dinner the day before his wedding when I served as one of his groomsmen. And the watch on the left is the one that I have worn nearly every day for the past eight years. My parents gave the Hamilton Khaki Automatic to me and it has not only served me well over the years in a practical sense but it also reminds me of my parents and their generosity whenever I slow down and take a moment to appreciate it.

All of these watches have stories behind them. Some old, some new. Some tell a little bit of the story of many family while others are simply a part of my story. However, I hope to pass these down to my son, along with the stories that I know, many years from now once I have had a little more time to enjoy them. Again, that is the true value in these timepieces.

Reminded Of Grandpop

This is the ship my grandpop served on during WWII.

I never got to know my grandpop. He passed away only a few years after I was born so everything that I know about him is second hand. Over the past few years I have been uncovering pieces here and there about his life. From what I have been told he was, putting it nicely, a bit of a complex man but, in the end, knowing my father and my uncle he must have done something right.

The complexities began the day he was born. As I have been told by both my great aunt and others in the family, his name was the first unique thing about him. The day that my grandpop was born my great grandfather decided that the best place for him to be was at the bar. I guess in Appalachia you have to earn the nickname “White Lightening”. This did not sit well with my great grandmother so she took revenge by naming her son after a former boyfriend and the doctor who delivered the baby. That is how the name Percy Davis (first and middle names) got its start in my family.

Later in life, with no work to be found in Western Virginia, my grandpop was the one who moved the entire family to Pennsylvania. Not long after that he enlisted in the Navy during World War II and served on the USS Cole crossing the equator several times during his service. I was reminded of both of these aspects of his life as I was recording the brief life history written by my great aunt.

After the war, with his family already started, he worked with my great grandfather at the Autocar factory in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. A facility that was less than a block away from my lodge. It is that connection which prompted this post. As I was calling the long standing members of the lodge, I dialed a particular number and spoke to a brother in his early 80’s. While I only knew him as a brother he recognized my last name.

At first I thought he was talking about my uncle but after he offered a few more details it was clear that he was talking about my grandpop. He remembered him from his days (decades actually) as a member of the Narberth Volunteer Fire Company. As a Captain, I guess people remember you even decades later. Heck, I have met a brother or two that remember my dad and my uncle as volunteers with the ambulance corps.

It isn’t much but at least I am able to learn a little about him. And as is often the case, it only takes a few details to begin a story and that is exactly what I plan on doing. Maybe if I can add some more details and connect, in a more concise manner, all of the events in his life I might be able to get to know my grandpop a little better.