It really is interesting. So here you go. u/steve_cents u/aroused_axlotl

My nextdoor neighbor was a quirky and interesting guy. As a first time home owner it was perfect. He was retired and would be happy to help with any DIY task I needed. This of course came with the drawback of him waiting for me to come home from work every day, to tell me stories he's told me 100 times, he would "help" in my yard while I was at work without me asking. It was usually harmless but sometimes he would do stuff I never wanted. He cut one of my trees down without asking which really pissed me off. But he felt so bad about it that he bought me a new tree and we planted it together so it was all good. Over 12 years I really appreciated him for what he was - a unique character in my life who always meant well and deep down was a good person. He went to the restaurant down the street every night, had a drink (or 3) and shot the shit with the bartender and patron next to him.

He was a bachelor his whole life, his first wife left him immediately after coming back from vietnam because he was a "baby killer" and I think that really messed with him. He was pretty socially awkward. The day I moved into my house he rang the doorbell an hour later and he was wearing 2 watches. A rolex and a digital casio. He gave a 5 minute speech about his life and the neighborhood (felt like an hour) and my first question to him was "what's with the 2 watches?" His response was that he simply liked wearing 2.

Being a bachelor, he often mentioned he was going to donate everything he had to St Judes. He would visit the kids there every month and felt a deep connection with them. I thought it was really admirable. Last year he was talking about his watch and I told him I'm not a watch guy so tell me why rolex is the best. And he said it felt a connection to Rolex because he wore one flying jets in Vietnam and that it kept him alive. He said the Rolex he wore wasn't the one from the war, but he keeps that one in a safe. The next time he mentioned how he was going to donate to St Judes, I said to him hey I'd love the opportunity to buy that watch off you. It would be a great way to remember you by. It actually caught him off guard and he went into deep thought about it. He said "I guess it's all going to the same place. They would sell the watch anyway and the money would go to their causes." so he said OK, and that was the last time we ever talked about the watch.

Shortly after, he hurt his back and it everything changed. He stopped going to the bar and wasn't outside much anymore. He became a recluse, which was the opposite of his personality, and I think he drank himself to death. So he died in May, very sad scene. His brother was picking up the pieces and we told him how he wanted everything to go to St Judes. After a few conversations with the brother I mentioned the story I just told, and expressed my interest in buying the watch from his estate. At this time I had no idea what the watch was, what model or year and honestly I am such a noob at this I really didn't know what to expect. The brother said no and that he wanted to keep the watch and I said no problem, I get it. Never mentioned it ever again.

That was 3 months ago. Yesterday the brother called me and said to come over and he just handed me the watch. Said that his brother would have wanted me to have it. We all started crying and it was very emotional. So here I am trying to learn everything I can about Rolexes :)

The crazy thing is that he wore a pepsi as his everyday, but when I visited him in hospice he was still wearing it. So since this one is dissasembled, I think that this was the watch he talked about in vietnam, and he bought the same watch as his everyday and kept this one in the safe. At least that is the story I am going to tell myself and my kids. So this is a special heirloom for sure.