THE WATCH

THE WATCHc

 

I kept it for many years. My roommate, Joe, gave it to me for safe-keeping when he was shipped out to Vietnam. It wasn’t an expensive item, just an old pocket watch that his “granddaddy” gave him when he was a young lad. It naturally had great value to Joe. Unfortunately, Joe was killed during the Tet Offensive.

 

His loss was a blow to me as he was my best and most trusted friend. I took it as a singular honor that Joe trusted me with the watch.

 

Immediately, I took it upon myself to look for relatives of Joe, but after months of searching, there was no one. His parents were deceased and he had never married. He never mentioned anyone else.

 

I continued looking, questioning anyone Joe and I knew about the watch. No luck, until a waitress at a local pub we both frequented told me that she thought Joe always sent money to someone or some cause. I rushed back to our apartment and completed an exhausted search of every nook and cranny. Nothing! Just as I was about to lose hope, when a letter came, addressed to Joe.

 

 

 

 

I felt funny opening it, but I had to. The letter was from a woman in Iowa, reporting a list of improvements accomplished by her child. There was little else – just some medical data that I had no way to interpret.

 

There was a return address for a Ronne family in Ames, Iowa. I could not find a phone number. There was just one thing to do. I booked a flight to Ames and proceeded straight to the address on the envelope.

 

A tired-looking woman answered the door. I identified myself and told her what happened to Joe. She broke down, crying in long, convulsive sobs. After a few minutes, she composed herself and led me into a bedroom where the mystery was solved.

 

In a bed was Eric Ronne, paralyzed from the neck down after a boating accident. I placed the watch in his stiffened hand, explaining that Joe had carried it his entire life until his was lost life in battle. Tears flowed down Eric’s cheeks. I then knew that I had found the perfect place for the watch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I returned home, I contacted the Department of Veteran Affairs as Joe’s heirs were entitled to benefits, which were still held back as there were no survivors.

 

I explained the situation, but he said: “no way; only relatives were eligible”. After an hour of begging and cajoling, a remarkable thing happened. The official simply penned in the Ronne family as Joe’s second cousins!

 

Amazing, what a magical watch accomplished! Joe, rest in peace.