15. Junghans FORM | The Entrepreneur

At 65, the entrepreneur is an unlikely candidate to open her own business.  Friends and family are unanimous in their disapproval of her business venture.  Her son was the most vocal opponent of the idea.  He told her that she should enjoy her golden years in peace, that she doesn’t need such stress at her age.  Although the entrepreneur silently suspects his opinion has something to do with her now limited availability as a babysitter.  As she packs the last apple pie ready for her first delivery, she puts on her watch, a Junghans FORM date, which had been sitting on the kitchen counter.   Before she puts it on, she glanced at the engraved case back which says ‘carpe diem’, her favorite Latin phrase. She saw it in a shop window and the simplicity of the dial attracted her.  She’s had this watch, a birthday present she got for herself, since she was 40. The J645 quartz movement had kept good time without servicing the last two and a half decades, the original light blue suede straps which always reminded her of spring, however, had to be replaced.  The entrepreneur had, after the funeral, habitually asked her son to do that for her.  Though she specifically requested similar colored suede straps, her son replaced them with black calf leather ones.  He assured her that the original ones could not be found and tried to convince her that the black ones suited her better anyways.  Ever since her decision to start her apple pie business with the life insurance payout, he’s been annoyed with her, so she daren’t raise her dissatisfaction.

Indeed, it was just a trivial matter.  Many would consider the entrepreneur to have had a charmed life.  According to her own mother, who was very traditionally Chinese, a lucky woman is one who has three good men in her life.  As a girl, she is cared for by her father, as a woman by her husband, and as a mother by her son. Fortunately for the entrepreneur, this has certainly been the case. Her father raised her with love, provided her with a stable home, and when she wanted to pursue a creative career, advised her against it.  She took his advice and instead studied nursing. ‘A more suitable profession for a young woman’, were her father’s words.  Looking back, she can’t say that she hated it, the income and hours were stable, and it was where she met her husband, a doctor, whom her parents adored.  The entrepreneur’s husband, as luck would have it, was also a loving husband and father, who took care of the family finances, and made all the difficult decisions, something she had gotten used to over the years. When he passed away unexpectedly a few years ago, her adult son took charge of the funeral matters, and subsequently decided that it would be better for her to live with him, his wife, and their toddler. ‘It would be easier for us to care for you’, was his justification for suggesting that she should sell their family home. Her son has been pushing her to make the decision, ‘the market is very strong right now, it’s the best time to sell’, he insists. Though she has yet to agree, the entrepreneur also didn’t verbally object. After all, she had listened to her men till now, and her life has been a prosperous one.

The fragrant smells of apples and buttery pastry fill the kitchen of the family home, where she had shared half of her life with her husband and son.  The entrepreneur vividly remembers the vibrant light blue color of the original suede straps of her Junghans, something she had chosen herself more than two decades ago, without the approval of anyone.  The entrepreneur puts on her watch, picks up her car keys on the kitchen counter, ready to go out and cease the day, to make her first delivery, and to replace those black calf leather straps of her Junghans.