The Gift of Time

The nervous young man looked at his stainless steel diver’s watch repeatedly.

3:06.

3:07.

3:08.

“When is this baby going to come out?” he thought.  Of course, his wife was asking the same question, too.  Monitors beeped, nurses scurried and soon, a baby cried.

The new father looked at his watch.

3:09 p.m.

“Welcome to the world son. Welcome to the world.”

The father worked hard, but always made sure he was home in time to see his son before he went to sleep. On this particular night, his son pulled up on the ottoman and began to take a step.  The toddler stuck out one foot, wobbled and then repeated with his other foot. His first official steps.  As the mom cheered, the dad looked at his watch.

6:35 p.m.

Five years later, the father sat in the emergency room.  His  little boy held an icepack where the baseball had hit him in the face.  The father repeatedly looked at his watch.  When would they be seen?

7:58 p.m.

8:58 p.m.

He shrugged. Time goes so much slower when a loved one is in pain.   The dad looked at the watch again. “Thanks for being here, dad.” the little boy bravely said as he held the icepack to his face.

The boy was now 16 and driving. His curfew was 11 p.m. and the father sat in his recliner looking at his watch.  It was his ritual — to wait up until the boy got home.

10:58 p.m

10: 59 p.m.

The garage door opened and the boy walked through, throwing the keys on the coffee table.  “Night, dad.  Thanks for letting me borrow the car.”

The dad smiled at his son’s punctuality.

Five years later, the dad once again looked again at his watch.

11:59 a.m.

The music in the hall began and there on the stage, his son, his classes valedictorian,  stepped up to the stage to address his classmates.  “I want to thank everyone who made this moment possible, especially my parents.  The dad looked again at his watch and smiled.  The boy knew the value of a short speech.

Four years later, the father looked at his watch.

5:30 p.m.

He sat on the front row of the packed church as the organ began to play “Here comes the bride.” He looked at the beautiful woman walking down the aisle and then shot a glance to his now-grown son.  He looked at his watch again.  “Where has the time gone?” he whispered to his wife. “Where has the time gone?

Three years later, the father stood in the same hospital where he had so many years ago.  Once again, he looked at his watch repeatedly.

3:06.

3:07.

3:08.

And then at 3:09, his grandson came into the world.

Later that evening, both men were staring at the tiny baby in the nursery.  The dad smiled, unfastened his stainless steel diver’s watch from his wrist and handed it to his son.  “Here you go son, Happy Father’s Day. You need this now more than I do.”

The son stared at the old watch and realized he had been given the most valuable gift of all from his father.

“Thanks, dad. Thanks for the gift of time.”