This is maybe the brightest memory I have of my father.
We went into the city. Wandered through shops. So many trinkets everywhere. And somehow we ended up in a watch store. That’s where I saw it — a Montana watch. It was the 90s. An electronic watch with a backlight. Sixteen melodies, I think. An alarm. A steel band. It was cool.
I wanted it. But we didn’t have the money.
So we bought a different watch. I was still happy with it. We came home. Dad left for work. And… I think it broke. I don’t remember exactly what happened. I just remember being so disappointed. I think I even cried.
Dad said he would take it back for repairs.
He left.
Then I remember him coming back. Walking into the room. I was sitting on the sofa. And he pulled out that watch. The Montana.
Oh, God.
I jumped off that bed. Leapt into the air. Wrapped my arms and legs around him. Hugged him with everything I had.
That feeling — it has followed me my whole life.
After that, I kept that watch next to me when I slept. Every night. I don’t even remember where it went. I tried to hold onto it for a while. But I lost it somewhere.
We rarely hugged, my father and I.
But that moment — that was the brightest moment of my life.