I like our ranch-style house, except for one thing-our living room and dining room are one room. Growing up, we always lived in two-story houses with the ground floor laid out in a square: kitchen, family room/den, living room (for company only), and dining room. Not having an actual dining room means there’s no place to put dining room furniture. We have a big dining table, but if we put it in the space meant for it, we would have a huge table to walk around just to get from the kitchen to the family room. We did, however, receive a gift this past weekend that fits very nicely in a corner of the dining room area-a Grandfather clock! And not just any Grandfather clock, the clock my Grandpa Culver gave my Grandma Culver when they got married in 1972 (technically, she’s my Step-Grandma, although I’ve never thought of her that way). There’s a plate screwed to the inside of the door with my Grandparents’ names and the date of their wedding.

My Grandma has been promising it to me since after my Grandpa died in 1977. When they got married, by the way, he was 70 something and she must have been 40 something. It’s weird for me to think about marrying someone in their seventies, but they had been friends for about fifteen years before getting married. Isn’t that sweet?

My husband spent a large amount of time on Saturday and Sunday tinkering with the clock, figuring out how the gears work, getting the pendulum hung, and getting it to chime correctly. I swear that man can fix anything! I thought it would be intrusive having a clock chiming every fifteen minutes, but you know what? That chime, it’s the sound of spending my childhood weekends at my Grandparents’ house. I really don’t mind it at all. I’m so grateful to my Grandma for passing on this cherished reminder of her marriage to me.

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