10/25/10

Four Minutes

Yesterday as I drove home from the grocery store, there was a call
An old friend from my mother's past
How is she? She never answers the phone...the plaintive, and now familiar, refrain
My impotent answer does not comfort
She doesn't connect the ringing to the phone, she can't really hold a conversation anymore
Their relationship of almost forty years was spent mostly over the phone
Calls of children wounded in relationships, broken in car accidents, husbands dead
Happy news too, grandchildren born, visits planned, of comfort and friendship despite a continent's divide
I'll still send cards, hopefully she'll enjoy them even if she doesn't know who they're from
Her voice catches
I thank her for being a such a loyal friend - she still sees the person that was
That I no longer do

1 comment:

  1. This is so poignant. Nobody thinks about you, the daughter, going through these moments. Thanks for catching this and for sharing it.

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