encouraging the urgency of a return call
On Saturday the 27th my mom called in the morning and left a message on my cell phone saying how she hadn’t heard from me in a while which I kind of chuckled about because we had been to their house the previous weekend. I waited until after dinner to call her back.
In her usual upbeat manner Mom asked if I had read my email in the last couple of days and when I said no I got this;
“um, oh, well your Dad got a call on Wednesday and your Uncle Jack died, I sent all you kids an email.”
There’s no urgency for bad news in our family and bad news isn’t delivered as catastrophy, it’s delivered exactly like my mother did, casual, maybe a little shoulder shrug, not anything we can do cause they’re dead kind of thing. That’s not to say there is no grief, or sadness or mourning.
There were no plans to make a trip to Arizona because my sister, Blossom, lives within two hours of Jack and could make whatever arrangements and take care of whatever needed to be taken care of.
When I got off the phone I felt sad and thought how interesting it would have been to see the house and sort the belongings and imagine who this person was that I hadn’t seen since I was 4 or 5 years old.
Be careful what you wish for.
Sunday morning there was a message on the house phone from my dad asking me to call him as soon as possible. I’m pretty sure he was encouraging the urgency of a return call given my recent record with my mom but I don’t like messages that tell me “as soon as possible” especially from my dad. Nothing good ever comes from that kind of message.
Dad: What are you doing tomorrow?
Me: Nothing.
Dad: Would you like to go with us to Arizona?
Me: Sure.
Dad: I’ll have your mom come get you.
Me: Ok.
themocracy
have a good trip (that is, if this kind of trip could be considered good), well maybe safe trip is more like it.
yorksnbeans´s last blog ..thank you
Thanks the trip was good and safe and interesting.
so….where are the pictures? and hope to see you soon; as I got another call from dad about coming back out here and your name was mentioned in the conversation…..we shouldn’t let him think too much although he does need some thing to do…hahahohohahahoho (as she shakes he head in wonderment)
Thinking all the time or all the time to think, or something like that.
Oh geez, not the kind of news you want to hear from an email! Hope the trip is interesting, at least.
Candice´s last blog ..Overdue Love
We’re all about the communication in our family.
Sorry about your family’s loss. I hope the trip is interesting and that you enjoy learning about your uncle. It sounds like a chance to piece together a little bit about who he was, and maybe about your family as well. Safe travels!
Katy´s last blog ..Pondering Yoga and God
Thanks Katy. The trip was interesting and educational.
I am so sorry to hear about your family and Dad’s loss. It sounds like you are already back in town. If so I do hope that you did learn a little about your Uncle Jack and about your family too. Learning aobut what was… seems so important and heart calming at the same time. My love to all.
Thanks. It’s what you might call a life lesson.