Short Stories

The Story of Our Seth Thomas Clock

I pray to forget but I remember the day that Tracy died. I remember the moment the hospice nurse listened for a heartbeat and said..."I don't hear anything." She never said Tracy died, just that she didn't hear anything. I remember asking her when she said that, "What time is it?" and she answered, "12:00" (noon) I still have no idea why I asked that question. That morning,out of the ordinary, our Minister dropped by to see and pray for her. He didn't pray for her healing, just for her to join God and prayers for her family. He also happened to bring a minister with him that was holding a revival at his church that week.

That man, with no prodding from anyone, sang Amazing Grace at her bedside in the most beautiful voice. Also, men came from the Catholic church. (the hospice group had asked them to come.) They anointed her forehead and as I learned later...gave her the last rights as their religion does. We had time to phone all of our family and when we lost Tracy, her hands were being held by the ones she loved the most and all of the other members of her family were present in the home. I had time to tell her that it was alright to go on Home, that I would take care of her boys. We had time to spend with her for a time after her death. I was able to remove the clasp from her hair and let that long dark beautiful hair be all around her head and shoulders before her boys were brought home from school to see her before she was taken away. I have thought of all of this so many times and so many hours I have relived it since her death and I have come away from this feeling blessed.

How many Mothers are granted that gift of holding their child as they are born and also as they go home to their Heavenly Father? So many other parents have to endure the grief of wrecks, kidnapping, suicide, murder and such horrible ways of losing their children. Giving your child back to God is the hardest thing in this life you ever can do but I do believe that God did give me a gift and I feel such sorrow for other parents that have to live with horrible memories of how their child died. Tracy died too young and with too much undone but she died a peaceful death with no pain and was surrounded by her loved ones. Surely that is a blessing in itself and I thank God for it. It was weeks after I lost my daughter that I first had a reason to believe that God gives you a sign that all is well and that your child is safe with him. I had an old Seth Thomas clock that used to chime perfectly and I kept it on the mantle in the room that Tracy's baby bed was it.

The floor was hardwood and the baby bed had rollers on it. One day she managed to pull herself up in the bed and stand, holding the sides of the bed and jump up and down. Of course, that caused the bed to move. To my dismay, the bed finally made it's way to the mantle. When I found her, she had really done a number on the clock. It never kept time again and it never chimed again. I could have had it worked on but I had other antique clocks that didn't work either so I didn't worry about it because it never seemed to be that important. That clock sat in a special place all of those years, without working at all. Tracy ruined the clock before she was even old enough to walk and she died at age 27. One night, weeks after her death, I was walking into the kitchen and passed the clock on my way.

It started to chime. I stopped and listened and counted and it chimed 12 times. Tracy died at 12 noon. Each time it chimed was weeks apart. One time it chimed 10 times. She was born on the 10th of the month. Once it was 5 times. She was born on the 5th month of the year. Once it chimed 9 times. She died on the 9th of the month. Once it chimed once. She died on the 1st month of the year. The last time the clock chimed, it seemed to just go on and on with no reason for it. This time, the hands had "moved themselves" for the FIRST time. The hands were now set at 7:15. Tracy was born at 7:15 P.M. (Thank You God)