CAMPBELL RIVER – Cindy is sitting outside in the sun, unconcerned about ‘springing forward’ this weekend. Although she has a wristwatch, she rarely wears it. “I’m always late!” she laughs.
Inside, she shows us the first clock she received; a wedding gift from her mom. It got her thinking about her sister who collected pigs.
“I thought I’m not going to let her get one up on me,” she remembers. “So I started collecting clocks.”
That was more than four decades and 500 clocks ago (Cindy stopped counting at 501). She’s say she also earned a nickname, ‘Crazy Clock Lady’. “I love clocks,” she says matter-of-factly.
Cindy says there’s clocks all over her house, from the bathrooms to the laundry room. The only room that doesn’t have a clock is the master bedroom. “My husband can’t sleep with then on.” She says she’s going keep the room clock-free to stay married for 45 more years.
Cindy has clocks in countless shapes and sizes. She shows us sushi-clocks, backwards-clocks and a bird-call clock. She wears ring-clocks on her fingers, and a purse-clock over her shoulder.
There are also international clocks, from Japan, France and England. Many are gifts from family, like the toilet-clock that shows the time when you lift the lid.
“Me and my sister always managed to be talking in the bathroom,” she laughs. “So she got me one!”
Cindy says she doesn’t plan to stop collecting until her life inevitably stops ticking. And yes, she’d like to be buried with a clock.
“Maybe for my funeral I may be on time,” she laughs. “I don’t know!”
What Cindy does know, is that she won’t be doing the daunting task of changing all her clocks alone. She’s invited her family over to help, including her five children and 14 grandchildren.
“I serve them dinner and they change my clocks,” she laughs. “It’s fun!”
It’s a bi-annual bash that, more than changing time, is about spending time together. “You hear them ticking,” she says about the sound she finds comforting. “And you know you’re still alive.”
And you’re reminded to make every second count.
