The Old Pocket Watch

By Mark Morgan

I got to thinking the other day about something you don't see much anymore.

An old pocket watch.

Seems like when I was growing up, every older fellow had one.

Some carried them in their overalls. Some kept them in their Sunday coat. Most of them had a chain hanging from them that looked fancier than the watch itself.

I can still see an old-timer reach into his pocket, pull that watch out, flip open the cover, nod his head, and snap it shut like he'd just settled the affairs of the entire county.

As a kid, I thought that old watch was just for telling time.

Now that I've got a little more gray hair and a few more miles on me, I think it was doing something else.

I think it was reminding them that time doesn't wait on anybody.

That watch kept ticking during good years and bad years.

It kept ticking through droughts and floods.

It kept ticking when babies were born and when old friends were laid to rest.

And somehow, when you're young, you don't pay much attention to time.

You think there'll always be another summer.

Another fishing trip.

Another family supper.

Another chance to say the things you meant to say.

Then one day, you catch yourself saying something your parents used to say, and you realize a whole lot of years slipped by while you weren't looking.

Funny thing about getting older.

When we're young, we spend our lives trying to make money.

Then we get older and realize we'd trade some of that money just to have a little more time.

That old pocket watch teaches a lesson if you'll listen.

Go make the visit.

Take the trip.

Call the friend.

Sit on the porch a little longer.

Eat the pie.

Take the picture.

Because someday is a mighty slippery word.

You keep putting things off until someday, and before long, someday turns into, "I wish I had."

Dad used to say, "Son, don't wish your life away."

I didn't understand what he meant back then.

I do now.

Because one of these days, every one of us is going to wonder where all the years went.

We'll wonder where the little kids went.

Where the old dogs went.

Where the old houses went.

And where the young version of ourselves went.

That old pocket watch knows.

It's been keeping count the whole time.

So if you've got somebody you love, tell them.

If you've got a dream, take a step toward it.

And if you've got something to be thankful for, don't keep it to yourself.

Because the old pocket watch just keeps ticking.

And the richest people I know aren't the ones with the biggest bank accounts.

They're the ones who figured out that time is the real treasure.