Latest / Abide Meditation App / FALL ASLEEP with a Christmas Story 🎄The Christmas Clock🎄 Bedtime Story for Grown Ups

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FALL ASLEEP with a Christmas Story 🎄The Christmas Clock🎄 Bedtime Story for Grown Ups · Abide Meditation App

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Get Sleepy, where we listen, we relax, and
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: we get sleepy. My name's Thomas and I'm your host.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us tonight. The December
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: holidays seem to inspire a lot of reflection about the
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: passing of time. Not only do they happen to fall
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: at the end of another year, but they tend to
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: contain a lot of memories for the people who celebrate.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: December is a time when family and friends are more
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: often together and when life smilestones are more apparent. Tonight
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: we'll follow the Miller family, who pass down the same
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: house from one generation to another for a hundred years.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: As time passes. The Christmases that they spend together are
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: witnessed from the single advantage point of a faithful old
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: grandfather clock that stands in the front hall. Through its worldview,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: we will watch a heartwarming story unfold. A big thank
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: you to Alicia Stefan for writing this one, and I'm
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: delighted to say I'll be narrating it for you. It's
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: time to get nice and cozy, and if you're yet
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: to do so, you can switch off the lights and
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: put any physical distractions to one side. Tonight's tale is
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: a trip through time and a beautiful reminder that throughout
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: the decades and centuries, we as human beings endure through
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: tough times, through periods of prosperity, and everything in between.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: So long as our love, kindness, and appreciation for others
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: remains at the heart of who we are, we can
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: get through anything. Whilst on this train of thought, it
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: sprung to my mind that though the world and our
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: societies that we reside in can at times feel unjust challenging,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: a little ugly and dark, perhaps we as individuals will
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: forever hold the power to be the beauty and light
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: in our world. By that, I mean, no matter what's
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: going on, whether circumstances feel good or bad, times are
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: tough or prosperous, you can always send out love, kindness, joy, appreciation,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: and every other wonderful quality you possess to the rest
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: of the world, to the people around you that you
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: know and love, and beyond, to everyone and everything. As
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Martin Luther King Junior so eloquently put it, darkness cannot
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: drive out darkness. Only light can do that. So it's
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: especially at this time of year I wanted to remind
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: you that you are a beautiful piece of this incredible
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: jigsaw that makes up our wild and universe. So just
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: keep being the light and know how much it's appreciated.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: As you sink deeper into the support of your bed,
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: let your pillows softly cradle your head and allow any
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: troubles to fade away, giving yourself the opportunity of some
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: well deserved rest. Now we are ready to walk through
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: the front door of the newly built Miller House. A cozy,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: festive tale. The year is eighteen eighty somewhere in the
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: United States. This is where our story begins. The final
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: flourish George Miller added to the beautiful new house was
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: the stately Grandfather clock in the front hall. The home
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: itself was one of the finest in the neighborhood. Five bedrooms,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: a lavish full bathroom, a modern kitchen, a parlor, and
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: a formal dining room, and there was even a powder
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: room half bath on the first floor. It was a
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: house built to impress the eye in the latest fashion.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: The rooflines were irregular, as if seeking to incorporate every
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: worthy architectural style at once. Best of all, there was
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: a turret. It did make one feel a bit like
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: a queen. His wife, Margaret said more than once. She
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: was already imagining long summer evenings on their spacious covered
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: front porch, waving to the neighbors who passed by. The Millers,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: who had come from humble origins, would now take up
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: residence in the house of their dreams. The Grandfather Clock
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: was like a gatekeeper, made from strong oak and covered
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: in intricate details. It was as reliable as could be.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Wherever a person was in the house, they would know
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: the time by its sonorous tones. Its tick tick tick
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: noise created a purposeful and soothing backdrop for the life
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: of a family that George and Margaret urged constantly forward
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: towards a new sentry and a new standard of living.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: There were two Miller children, Clara, who was eleven, and Henry,
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: who was nine. To them, the new house was as
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: awe inspiring as a fairy castle. They spent their time
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: playing hide and seek in the recesses of the upper floors,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: but most of the life in the house happened on
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: the main floor, and the Grandfather Clock had a front
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: row seat for all of it. Everyone who arrived took
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: off their coats and perhaps handed over an offering or
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: a gift did so in front of the clock. Each
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: first and last conversation occurred in the presence of the clock,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: and straight ahead through the wide entrance to the parlor
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: with its heavy pocket doors. The clock stood watch over
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: that room and its occupants. And the very best time
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: of year was Christmas. It had become the fashion for
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: wealthier families to have a Christmas tree. Naturally, Margaret insisted
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: on it, and she maintained that there was no more
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: appropriate place than the front window of the parlor. There,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: she argued, the entire neighborhood could enjoy the tree as well.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: George sent away for beautiful glass ornaments, which they unpacked
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: with nervous care. Then Margaret strung the tree with ropes
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: of shining beads. The children were hoping for lit candles
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: to be patched on the branches, but their parents refused. Yes,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: they said, people did do that, but they were not
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: interested in setting fire to their fine new house. As
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: a consolation for outlawering the candles, Margaret allowed the children
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: to create some handmade ornaments. She placed these strategically in
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: hidden areas where the guests were less likely to notice them.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Clara and Henry didn't clock onto this at all, and
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: were quite proud of their contributions. The rest of the
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: parlor was set up both to host and to impress.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Chairs and setees upholstered with velvet were placed close enough
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: to the hearth to encourage people to gather there, but
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: far enough that they wouldn't get too heart artwork hung
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: around the room from the picture rail, encouraging cultured conversation. Underneath,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: the walls were papered with a rich looking pattern that
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: made the room feel both snug and impressive at the
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: same time. The overall mood in the parlor was one
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: of abundance and security. That first year, the clock saw
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: many a Christmas card opened and carefully placed around the room.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Some of these pretty little pictures stood on the tables
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: and others on the mantelpiece. The cards were quite the fashion.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: It seemed every guest who didn't arrive with fruit or
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: sweets or a small wrapped gift had a card in
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: their hands. Margaret spent many an afternoon addressing them to
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: her friends as well, although she did so at her
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: writing desk out of sight of the clock. When Christmas
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: Day came around, a decadent meal was prepared in the
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: kitchen and eaten in the dining room. The front hall
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: was constantly a buzz with visitors arriving with wrapped packages.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Children darted in and out of the parlor, carrying dolls
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: and books and all manner of clever little toys. There
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: was even singing in the parlor, and at one point
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Carolice came to the door. Through it all, the clock
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: took its job very seriously. It proudly told the hour
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: as the merrymakers wiled away the day. As night fell
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: and the number of guests finally dwindled. With children half
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: asleep on the lower stairs, the clock continued to keep
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: them apprized of the lateness of the hour. Eventually only
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: Clara and Henry were left there asleep. George picked up
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: one after the other, and first Clara's Auban cars and
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: then Henry's brown ones disappeared, resting in their father's arms
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: to go to bed, and then all was quiet and
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: a new day began. The clock watched over many Christmases,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: never faltering in its work. Gradually, over time, George and
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: Margaret grew older and spent more and more of their
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: days writing letters, chatting with visitors and reading in their chairs.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Sometimes in warm weather, the clock could see them through
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: the front window, rocking in their chairs on the wide,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: breezy porch. Twenty years after that first Christmas, the family
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: was still gathering in the parlor, but the people had changed.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: George and Margaret rested comfortably while Clara directed the activities,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: her auban locks now swept up in an elegant hair style.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: As a woman just over thirty, she was clearly in
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: charge of the festivities. Now that was a lot to
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: manage because she and her husband John had three children
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: of their own. Richard was the smallest one at only
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: six years old. Then there was his brother James, who
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: was eight, and Virginia was the oldest at eleven. Christmas
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: time always offered many opportunities for the family to call
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: attention to Virginia. After all, her name had become quite
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: famous just a few years ago, when a little girl
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: had written a letter to a New York newspaper inquiring
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: about whether or not Suna was real. To the delight
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: of children nation wide, that very authoritative newspaper had confirmed
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: that he was. Yes, Virginia, her father John would say,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: there is a Santa Claus. After hearing this proclamation, the
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: children would cheer and run in circles around the parlor
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: as their mother halfheartedly told him to calm down. The
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: trees still stood in the window, but now it was
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: that by miraculous electric lights that no longer made Margaret worry.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: These new lights were quite a lavish touch, as they
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: were expensive to install and operate, but John had a
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: friend who was an electrician, and Clara did so love
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: to be the first house on the street to put
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: on a big electric show. She confided to John that
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: she knew it was a little frivolous, but the twinkling
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: lights did make her parties so merry. Clara and John
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: were living with her parents, now taking care of the
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: Grand Miller house. Her brother Henry was recently engaged to
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: a woman named Emma, which made their mother, Margaret quite relieved.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: She had often worried aloud that Henry would never find
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: a wife, but he was such an adventurer, that boy,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: she would continue shaking her head. It'd been too busy
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: traveling the world until now to settle down. When Henry
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Miller and the lovely Emma arrived at the front door,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: the whole house lit up with excitement as they brushed
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: a little snow off their coats and handed over a
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: pile of packages. They were deluged with children wanting the
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: first hug. Uncle Henry was beloved by all, and Emma
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: was declared a welcome addition to the family. The parlor
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: and the front hall had not changed very much in
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: twenty years. Clara didn't want to offend her parents by
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: changing their decor, but she had made some subtle adjustments.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: The parlor was just slightly less stuffy. A few of
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: the artworks had been quietly packed away, and the picture
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: rail included some new ones that reflected the style at
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: the turn of the century. Henry had been her accomplice
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: in this surreptitious update of the room. In fact, he
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: and his sister Clara had chosen a few pieces that
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: their parents deemed doubt landish. The twentieth century was breezing
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: in and blowing the cobwebs off of everyone. Henry would
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: convincingly counter a picture could be a representation of a thing, now,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: he insisted, not just a copy of the thing itself. Nonsense.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: His father would snort, but then George Miller would go
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: back to his paper Clara still hung her parents' lovely
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: old ornaments, but she also allowed the children to string
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: popcorn on the tree. Their indulgent grandmother didn't mind anything
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: her grandchildren did pleased her. She was quite amenable. Through
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: the window that year, the clock could see it was
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: especially snowy outside. John and Clara's children took full advantage
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: of this, disappearing with their ice skates for part of
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: the day and coming back with ruddy cheeks, and the
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: mountain of gifts seemed greater than ever before, with each
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: adult delighting in the children's happiness, many of Clara's rules
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: for her family were clearly relaxed. The clock saw Richard,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: James and Virginia with sticky faces and staying up far
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: past their bedtimes, but everyone was so merry. It was
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: as if the new sentry had filled them with new energy.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: But the clock had one job to do at the
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: same speed, no matter the year. It didn't get over excited,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: and it did not care about the turning of the century.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: It chimed the hour and counted down the minutes until
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Christmas came again, and again the years continued to roll by.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: For a time, things became quieter at first, it was
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: just Clara's family in the house after George and Margaret
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: passed into its memory. But then the late nineteen tens arrived,
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: and with them a great war. Clara's sons left home.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: First John closed the door behind him, and then Richard.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: Virginia stayed with Clara and John, helping them at home
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: for a few years. Christmases were inexplicably private and sober.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: The clock did not see the missing sons, although Clara, John,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: and Virginia seemed to gather around sometimes to read their letters.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: The holidays passed without the patter of small feet and
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: without the arrivals of large families in the hall. But finally,
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: when the war years had passed, life returned to their house.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: By the time the decade of the nineteen twenties arrived,
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: the whole family was back together. James was recently married
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: to a woman named Bernice and they had twin babies
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: named Anna and Charles. Richard was recently married as well,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: but he and his wife Mary didn't have any children
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: with them. The irrepressible Virginia was still living in the
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: grand old House with Clara and John, but she left
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: every day to go to a job where she worked
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: as a secretary. She entertained the family nightly with her
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: comical stories about her befuddled employer and his impossibly disorganized office.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Virginia had also convinced John and Clara to let her
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: redecorate the parlor a little. She energetically stripped off the
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: aging Victorian era wallpaper and hired someone to paint the
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: room a warm color of ivory. The fussiest old paintings
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: from the picture rail were banished to the upstairs attic
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: and replaced with the news style. The younger people were favoring.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Any protests from their mother were overruled by James and Richard.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: They had been abroad for the past few years in
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: the war, and they knew Virginia's taste was on the
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: pulse of a fresh new decade. Since their mother had
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: missed them so terribly, she could deny James and Richard nothing.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Redecorating continued, but most exciting was the new victrola that
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: James had dragged into the room Recently. Virginia had convinced
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: her parents to roll up and store the heavy Oriental
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: rugs that had dominated the room for decades, replacing them
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: with simpler ones that revealed the beautiful hardwood floors. The
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: three siblings could now be seen regularly pushing back those
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: lighter rugs and dancing to jazz music as the Needles
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: skipped across their small collection of records. Clara and John
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: watched from a safe distance, happy to see two auburn
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: heads and a chestnut one bobbing wildly together around the room.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: It was a lovely time, and the clock felt that
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: a new and more optimistic era had arrived. That festive
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: period in nineteen twenty may have been less noisy, less exuberant,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: perhaps less lavish, but it was filled with happiness. In
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: the ensuing years, the clock watched on as James's twins,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: Anna and Charles grew up, visiting the house often. They
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: were joined on holidays by Richard only Son, their cousin Jack.
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: When Clara and John were no longer there, it was
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: James and Bernice who moved into the house, with the twins,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: waving a fond farewell to sister Virginia. The clock felt
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: a little melancholy to see Virginia go, but she was
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: shining with happiness and appeared ready for an adventure of
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: her own, and there was no denying that it was
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: wonderful to have the house filled once again with a young,
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: vibrant family who brought many people through the front door,
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: and who filled the parlor with active lies. Anna and
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: Charles were like a breath of fresh air. There did
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: seem to be some lean years as well. Some of
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: the furniture disappeared, and the decorations simply stayed the same
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: for a fair while. Sometimes James and Bernice sat in
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: the parlor talking in low voices, brightening again when the
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: twins entered the room. But one lively addition to the
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: parlor was the large radio that arrived one day. Its
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: presence appeared to make the front room the center of
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: the house. In the evening, the entire family could often
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: be found clustered around it, hanging on its every word.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: During the day, when she was alone at home, Benice
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: listened to it almost constantly. It was like another window
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: to the wild outside. By the time Christmas of nineteen
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: forty came around, the house was no longer full of children. Instead,
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Charles and Anna were adults. In fact, Anna had a
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: boyfriend a Christmas. His name was Edward. Charles had teased
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: her about it in the hallway before the party started.
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: Their cousin Jack came with his parents as well, but
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: even as the youngest Jack was fifteen, it was a
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: holiday of more refined and grown up pursuits than some
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: of the previous ones, perhaps due to the older age
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: of the children. The gifts that year were not as
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: numerous or flashy as in years past. Handmade scarves were exchanged,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: books were gifted, records were popular among the younger people.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: The meal was prepared with care, but it was a
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: little smaller than it had been some other years. The
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: Christmas trees still stood in the window, but it had
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: more hand made ornaments now, since many of the old
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: glass baubles had suffered accidents and not been replaced. It
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: seemed that the resident Miller descendants, James and Bernice, were
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: thriftier than some of their forebears, but it didn't diminish
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: their Christmas spirit. Thrift, notwithstanding. The entertainment in the parlor
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: was some of the best ever. All manner of games
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: were played, and Charles did a dramatic reading from a
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: Christmas carol, which sent his cousins into fits of laughter
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: as the icing on the cake. It snowed heavily that year,
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: so the winter wonderland outside the front window made the
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: happy family scene around the hearth all the more heartwarming.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: It was the crock decided a good year time marched on.
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: Of course, after all, it was the clock's only responsibility
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: to make sure of that. The ensuing years brought the
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: joys and chaos of small children back to the home.
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: The young men who had celebrated Christmas there in nineteen
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: forty were absent for a time as another war raged
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: far away. Life was quiet. Anna left the house each
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: morning and came back tired after a long day of
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: work somewhere. But eventually those young men, Edward and Charles returned,
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: and even Jack started visiting again. Charles had married a
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: woman from England named Doris, and even young Jack returned
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: with a lovely wife named Shirley. All at once there
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: were babies again, and the holidays got busier and more joyful.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: All the same, it was hard for the clock to
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: keep up by the time Christmas of nineteen sixty came around.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: This is meant both literally and figuratively. Having rarely been maintained,
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: the clock's timekeeping was a bit off. People still tried
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: to wind the vintage timepiece, but the gears were in
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: desperate need of cleaning. Its resonant hanging became more unpredictable.
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: Besides that, a lot of changes had happened in the parlor.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: All the formal furniture, the victrolla, the old art, and
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: the window hangings had vanished. In their place, there was
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: a bold and somewhat bewildering look that didn't feel quite
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: right to the clock. The new furniture was low to
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: the ground with tapered legs. Its material looked serviceable but
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: not terribly soft. All the pictures had vanished from the
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: picture rail, and Anna and her husband Edward, who were
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: now the residents of the home, had installed a large
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: teak war unit that was filled with records and books.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: A single baffling artwork stood on the mantle, featuring a
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: disorienting graphic design. Most disappointing of all, the wood floors
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: were covered with burnt orange carpet from wall to wall.
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: The clock missed seeing the wood floors. Nobody ever lit
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: a fire in the hearth these days. Over the mantle
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: there was a military medal case honoring the descendants of
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: the Miller family who had served in the wars. There
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: was also a large television in the parlor. Now the
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: children often sat and watched it, with the oldest on
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: the sofa and the smallest children lying on the floor.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: It was a fascinating new window on the world for
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: the clock, showing things that had never been visible in
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: the parlor until then. Still, despite the oddness, the house
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: was filled with happiness. When the holidays came around, a
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: tree went up and it was covered in flashing, multi
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: colored lights, some of them actually had bubbling liquid inside.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: The pack of children who surged into the house ranged
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: in age from five to twelve. Anna and Edward had
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: three girls named Linda, Carol, and Sandra. Charles and Doris
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: had a little boy named Michael, and Jack and Shirley
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: had two sons, Paul and Raymond. So altogether there were
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: six stockings hanging from the mantel. The clock could hardly
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: remember when Christmas had been so filled with fun and wonder.
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: It was very noisy, but quite festive. One of the
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: most exciting moments that year was when Santa appeared in person,
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: bellowing Ho ho ho and handing out a gift to
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: each child. The littlest party goers were in hysterics, and
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: afterwards the jolly fellow exited from the front door and vanished. Oddly,
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: the back door opened shortly after, and he snuck back
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: up the stairs to the bedroom. However, only the clock
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: saw a few years after that mad cap Christmas, the
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: clock stopped ticking and sat silent in the hall. While
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: it was still dusted and respected, it felt somewhat bereft.
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: After all, it had a job to do, but it
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: needed repairs. During that era, the clock saw something new.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: For the first time, the oldest people in the house,
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: Anna and Edward, happily moved away. There was talk of
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: a smaller dwelling in a warmer place. This was quite unprecedented,
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: but the clock was not sad because some of their girls,
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: who were now grown up, stayed behind. Sandra went off
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: on an adventure, but Linda and her husband Ben stayed around,
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: and at some point Carol moved back in as well.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: Linda and Ben had a daughter named Jennifer. Both parents
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: worked all day, and sometimes Jennifer was the only person
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: in the house, but she was good company. She was
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: quiet and very self sufficient. On some days she and
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: her aunt Carol would sit and watch television together throughout
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: the afternoon. It was a peaceful time. The clock would
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: see the backs of their heads, one auban and one
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: chestnut brown, leaning companionably together as they laughed at their shows. Then,
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: as the Christmas of nineteen eighty was growing near, something
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: wonderful happened. Carol slowly began making the parlor look more
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: like it had many years before. The war unit was
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: relocated to another room, and interesting artworks were once again
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: hung selectively from the picture rail. A man came and
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: worked on the chimney and the fireplace for a while.
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: Soon after, the clock saw the family enjoying their first
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: fire in many years. The riot of jaw toned colors
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: from eighteen eighty didn't really come back. Instead, Carol chose
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: earth tones and tweed fabrics, but the hardwood floors shone
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: once again, and the room seemed to breathe a sigh
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: of relief. There was a rightness about it. But best
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: of all, a technician came to clean and maintain the clock.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: When he left, the old grandfather clock was looking splendid
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: and faithfully keeping time again. The grandparents, Edward and Anna
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: returned just for the holiday period, bringing tote bags full
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: of gifts. That year, Sandra came back as well, so
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: all three sisters were reunited. Best of all, their cousins,
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: Paul and Raymond made a special trip to join the fun,
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: along with Paul's nine year old son Mark and Raymond's
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: baby daughter Heather. The Christmas tree that year was exploding
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: with cheer. However, many ornaments and lights had been put
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: on it in previous years, there were more this time,
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: as if every child had free rain. The miniature colored
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: lights flashed in a slightly wonky pattern. Jennifer and her
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: cousin Mark had been let loose without supervision, to drape
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: silver tinsel on far too many branches. At the top,
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: a gaudy star delighted everyone with its pizazz. It seemed
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: that the spirit of Christmas was overflowing. One evening, right
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: before the big day, all the kids and even some
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: of the adults gathered around the television with enormous bowls
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: of popcorn to watch a series of holiday specials and cartoons.
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: And on Christmas Eve they gathered around in flannel pajamas
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: and were each allowed to open just one gift. Jennifer
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: received a strange electronic item that was soon attached to
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: the TV. It made puzzling beeps and exploding noises and
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: seemed to get every one very excited. There was also
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: a remote controlled car that sipped through the front hall,
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: and a doll that could talk. On Christmas Day, the
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: old Grandfather clock felt that everything was in balance. There
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: were three generations of Millar descendants here together, everyone was
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: happy and well, and even though the parlor had changed
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: in the past century, it was still filled with love.
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: In the cheerful colored light from the Christmas tree, the
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: clock proudly attended to its time keeping tick tick tick,
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: it said, tolling faithfully on the hour at exactly the
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: right second, And it remembered George and Margaret Miller, and
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: the thought of how many dreams they had for this
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: house and their family who cared so well for it
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: even now, and the clock had faith that the next
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: hundred years of Christmases would bring more good things.
• 54:03
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