DAISY’S SPECIAL CLOCK

I have an antique alarm clock that belonged to my Grandma Elsie. It’s a special clock because when the alarm goes off, it plays “You Are My Sunshine.” That’s now my favorite song because Grandma Elsie sang it to me every night before I went to sleep. Of course, that was before God took Grandma Elsie to live in heaven last year.

I look at my clock, and it makes me wonder a lot about time. Like, how long would it take to walk to the beach or maybe the town ice cream shop?  The best thing about my clock is that I can take it anywhere. It is small, very light and never needs electricity.

When I was a little girl, Grandma Elsie would tell me stories about the special alarm clock, of course, that was way before I turned seven. Grandma Elsie was funny, and sometimes her stories were silly, but they did help me learn how to tell time.

I miss Grandma Elsie’s stories so much. My Mom doesn’t have time to tell stories with having to work all the time.  I decided one day that I’ll have to start making up stories about the clock myself.  I’ll save them for when I give the alarm clock to my daughter after I get married of course.

Let’s see, I think . . . There once was an old clock that went tick-tock, tick-tock. It has numbers on it from one to twelve. When the small hand gets on three, and the big hand is on twelve, it is now three o’clock.  That could be either in the morning or maybe in the afternoon.  Grandma Elsie told me that the hands on the clock go around for twelve hours.  If you have one of those twenty-four-hour clocks, then three o’clock would be fifteen o’clock.  That would be too confusing, so you don’t want that of course.

Grandma Elsie told me that you have to remember to wind the alarm clock every night or it will stop. I don’t want that to happen so now I have my Mom remind me.

After I brush my teeth and put on my pj’s, Mom tells me, “Don’t forget to set your alarm clock, Daisy?”

“Okay, Mom. I’ll set it right away because I don’t want to be late for school.”

Sometimes I set the alarm for a time before I go to sleep just to hear the song play. It reminds me of Grandma Elsie. Once the song finishes, I would set the alarm to the correct time to get up for school.

On the day I pack for camp, my mom makes me leave the clock at home, so I don’t lose it.  I make her promise to wind it every day, so it doesn’t stop.

I whisper in my prayers each night, “Grandma, thank you for my special clock.  I will always remember you and the stories you told me about time.  When I was little, of course.”