For his graduation, his father gave him an old pocket watch, repaired for the occasion. It had already belonged to three generations of the family. Years later, he chose his nephew as its next keeper.
Before sending it on, he wrote out its history. On two pages bordered with blue lattice and orange blossoms, he traced the watch back to the family’s jeweler, then through the jeweler’s son and grandson to himself. “I love this old watch as I know you will,” he wrote.
In August 1988, the uncle passed both on: the watch and the letter. He hoped his nephew would one day give it to his own oldest son or a nephew. For now, it came with something no watchmaker could add—the names of the people who had loved it before him.
