Aside from the underside of the band tarnishing, the watch was functional, until about a month ago when the battery died. My husband took this as an opportunity to buy me a new watch for Christmas. He went to the store with two criteria in mind: 1) silver, 2) solid band near the face.
While I was mostly aware of the purchase of the watch, I did not actually see it until I opened the gift on Christmas. I wish I could say that I reacted with love, appreciation and enthusiasm, but I don't believe that would be accurate. As I recall, my reaction to the watch prompted my husband to say, "If you don't like it, we can take it back and exchange it for another one." A proposition I accepted. You see, the watch was pink and it had hearts, both attributes I wouldn't normally seek out.
Shortly after we returned home from the holidays, we made a trip to the store he bought the watch from and I looked in the case for one that suited me. I tried on two and chose one that was simple and professional. Turns out it was also almost double the price of the original watch, which had been on sale, but no matter, if it was in deed the watch that I wanted. The heart watch was returned and we left the store.
I believe it was in the parking lot that the thought first struck me that the entire exchange had been not entirely thought through before it took place. When we got home, I was a bit overwhelmed with the idea that I had acted rather petty in my desires and not very grateful at all. This thought brought me to tears and my husband held me while I cried.
I think both of us were hoping that I would move on, it's only a watch after all, and I wore the new watch to work the next day. However, that morning another thought stuck me, and proved that my guilty conscience had not let go of my actions. I imagined a future child of mine, drawing me a picture and proudly presenting it to me, upon which my response would be "Aww, thanks, but could you draw me another one with less hearts?". This idea struck me so hard that my husband started down the path of wanting to get the first watch back, a path I readily followed him down.
After only wearing the second watch for only a couple hours, I took it off, to prevent damage, in the hope that it could be exchanged. A couple of days later, we went back to the store and they had, in fact, re-stocked the heart watch on the shelf. We purchased it, this time without the sale price being applied. My husband insisted that I keep both watches for a few days to make sure that I ended up with the one that I wanted. For those few days, I wore the heart watch, and grew to appreciate it more. I appreciate what it means as much as it's appearance and function.
Tonight, we returned the second watch to the store and I am satisfied with the outcome. At one point in this drama, I asked my husband if it had hurt his feelings that I rejected his initial gift and he said that it had, but he was trying not to show it. I told him I hoped that learning this lesson on him would help prevent me from learning it again from our children. And now, the lesson has been recorded, so I can look back and remember again. Not to relive the discomfort, but to remind of the choices we have in life.
