[mikkibarry]

Hey guys, the strangest thing ever happened today. I bought my first Rolex in 1998, a TT ladies size Yachtmaster. I loved it, wore it always, and was rarely without it. Then 3-4 years ago I lost it. I last remember wearing it into a friend's "wake" held at a local pub. When I left the pub, it was no longer on my wrist. The clasp had previously just opened several times, and I just snapped it back on, and never had anyone look at it. I figured it let go, and I was out of luck. I was very sad, thought about checking through pawn shops, had already tried at the pub, and was pretty upset. I tore the house apart just in case I had been mistaken about wearing the watch into the wake, but knew in my heart that I'd lost it there. I would have bet money on it. I looked just about every possible place there was, up one side of the house and down the other. Nothing. A friend remarked that Richard, the man who passed, always liked Rolexes so perhaps he took mine as his last farewell. I thought that would have been ok, although it would have looked pretty silly on him, being so small.

Fast forward to about 6 months ago. I missed my TT YM, and went onto eBay and bought one from 1997 at a decent price. Then I started my collecting. Husband decided he wanted an Explorer II, gave me his midsized YM, I prepared to sell the 1997 YM to wear the larger one, and took it to a watchmaker to clean it up and get it ready.

Last week, I heard that the pub where the wake had been had closed, which got me thinking about Richard and how I missed him. I decided to clean the house a bit, since it was kind of a mess, and started straightening up the bedroom. I picked up a piece of roll on luggage that just didn't belong where it was, and was about to put it elsewhere when I heard something fall to the floor. And guess what it was? It's not the 1997, because that one is still in Herndon at the watchmakers. After finally pulling the bracelet off (a chore because it was so dirty), there was the U serial of a 1998 YM.

Holy crap, eh?