my third watch
For my parents wedding, my maternal grandfather (nana ji) gifted my father a watch. From what I can tell, some version of a Titan 530, maybe 530yak, although searching for that online gives no results. My dad doesn't wear watches, so with my recent interest in them I asked if I could have it. Of course he said yes and after fitting it with a new battery and strap (the old one was torn and falling apart) I wore it for the first time to pick up pizza from Domino's.
Technically it was my dad's watch, but it feels more like my nana's. He was the one who chose it, and he wore a similar watch (pictured below) that is now with my cousin. I’ve also never seen my dad wear a watch so it’s hard to think of one as his.
My nana passed to leukemia about two years after my parents' wedding. I never met him, and despite all the stories and pictures and reminders that I take after him in so many ways, I always felt that I couldn't miss what I never knew.
I spent the first day showing everyone around me "my" "new" watch. When I wasn't shoving it in someone else's face I was looking at it myself. This was a cheap, quartz watch that I didn't like very much and probably couldn't sell for more than $20. But after months of it sitting in my drawer, battery dead and strap unusable, it's grown on me to the point I worry about breaking it while simply putting it on.
It wasn't until the morning after my first wear that I truly missed him. It feels so corny to admit it, but I wanted him here. To show him the new strap, how well it had aged, and how much I loved it. To ask him how much it cost when he bought it or how he chose that specific model. This feels lame/bad to admit, but it was the first time I had something I really wanted to speak with him about specifically. And it made me sad that I couldn't.
I remember when I got home with it on its new strap I was beaming. I walked in and my paternal grandpa (dada) asked where I'd been. Normally I'd just say I was at the store but this time I explained why. He's become an unexpressive man who doesn't say much, and nodded as he usually does when I showed him the watch, but with his gaze lingering on it longer than usual, I was happy that I got to share it with him.
The second time I wore it was for my first day of full-time work. The third was for my undergrad convocation.
Posted: 2023-07-06