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Time Piece

I was given my first watch when I was 5 or 6 years old.  The face featured a little girl with blond braids (Swiss Miss-like).  The band was a kind of sea foam green shiny plastic; the kind of plastic that begs to be gnawed on, which I did.  I loved having the watch because it made me feel grown up.  I hated the watch itself because it was babyish.  (I remember my brother, Andrew, trying to sell me on how cool and classy it was, once when I was lamenting over it.  I wasn't impressed with his argument.) 

I'm not sure when it disappeared, or to where it disappeared, but I was missing it by the time I was ready to start college.  I had only applied to one school. Bradford College was located in Haverhill, Ma, about 90 minutes north of Boston. A small liberal arts college, Bradford was founded in 1803 and closed its doors in 1998, the year I would have graduated, had I not made some poor choices.

Haverhill wasn't exactly a happening town, but it did boast three features which I found heavenly: 1) an independent coffee house, complete with overstuffed couches, books and board games; 2) an independent record store (actual vinyl), that also sold hotdogs; 3) a two-story "antique" store. This last one was my absolute favorite. I could get lost in there for hours among the vintage clothing, jewelry, furniture, toys, signage and other assorted junk. It was there that I bought my cigarette holder and pink velvet ice skating outfit. It was there that I found a bubblegum pink tobacco pipe, nestled among more manly tobacco pipes, all displayed on a lazy Susan (shouldn't have walked away from that one). It was there that I found my Swiss Miss watch. I'm sure it couldn't have been mine, but the previous owner apparently felt the same way about the plastic band as I had. I remember staring at that watch in awe.

I walked away to look at other stuff, but kept going back to it. Eventually, I walked away for good. I'm not sure why. I suppose I didn't really want it, I just appreciated the coincidence and what it represented. I've since tried locating it on eBay, but no dice. I miss my little girl watch. Why the heck didn't I buy that pipe?

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