me a writer. " - Isaac Bashevis Singer
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Sunday Citar-
" A daughter reminds you of all the things you had forgotten about being young.
Good and bad. " - Maeve O'Reilly
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Sunday Scribbling- #288 -The Call-
The Phone Call
It was a chilly night in early spring.. I was doing my very best to get my supper dishes all washed up when my phone rang... I dried my hands and ran to the living room grabbed the phone and said "Hello!".. The response I got was "Teeheehee" then a buzz as they hung up... I checked the number. It was a number that seemed familiar and yet not one that I really knew... It was listed as unknown name on the caller ID.. but from the first three digits I knew it to be a cell phone.. Honestly I thought it was either a child playing with a parents phone or just a prank caller since they were giggling like crazy...
I went back to the kitchen and again began cleaning up... No sooner than I got my hands good and wet again than I heard the ring ring of the phone once more... I stopped what I was doing and came again to the phone answering with an annoyed Hellooo!.. This time I only got a half of a giggle and again the buzz... I looked on the box and it was the same number... Now I was really annoyed... I looked at the number again and looked in my own cell phone to see if it was someone I knew.. Nope. That number wasn't in my phone... I was standing there trying to think of who it could be when It rang again.. this time I was ready... I was standing beside the desk and I grabbed it on the first ring... "Do NOT hang up on me again!".. I yelled into the receiver... Silence.. Not a sound could I hear in return for my yell... "Now" I said taking a few deep breaths to calm myself down.. "Who is this?"
"Oh I can't tell you that" she answered with a giggle following her words..
"What number are you trying to call" I asked.... "Yours" she replied..
OK I'm now ready to choke this person who I am relatively sure is female and not very old...and from the sound of things right then did.. she didn't appear very bright... But Being the kindly;.. ( Hack hack) Wonderful;.. ( I'm choking myself here with these lies.) Grandmotherly.. ( OK so I am a grandma!) type of person that I am... I decided to play along with her for a minute or two...
"So now that you have me on the phone, Do you know my name?" I asked..
"Yea!" She said.."Well then who am I? What is my name?" I asked...
"You know your name! I know you know your own name!" She answered...
Deciding to take a different tactic I said " And then do I know your Name?"
"Yea" she said "I think you do but I can't tell you who I am right now."
"OK" says I, "But I was busy so I'm hanging up now since we don't even know who each other are." I had really had enough and still had dishes to wash.
"No wait Miss Patsy" she said.. "I gotta ask you some stuff!"
OK Now we were getting somewhere. She does appear to know my name and since she's calling me Miss Patsy she is most likely a friend of one of my children... Or she is one of the children I kept in daycare... Or... OK, She could still be anybody... But we have now established that she knows me...
I was just about to ask her what stuff she needed to ask me when she suddenly blurted out... " Does Cooper love me,.. I called him before but he said I was too young to call him and Now my baby daddy is gone and I was wondering if you think He might love me now that I'm a woman... I have a cute baby boy. 'Cept he cries all the time."... I was floored... Cooper is my son.. But hadn't lived here in quiet a while... He had been on the other side of the country for months training for a new job there... And even though this young girl knew me... I was clueless as to who she was...My mind was reeling.. I was pretty sure that he wasn't the baby daddy.. as she called it.. so that was at least a worry off my mind.
So we talked for a while this woman child and I... I assured her that I didn't want to hurt her feelings but that If a boy didn't like her It was nothing wrong with her it was just that sometimes people didn't match like that... And that if a young man told her she was too young to be calling him it was probably because he was actually too old to date her...
"Oh" she said "so it don't mean I'm ugly or nothing like that? Cause I ain't fat since I had the baby."
"And how old are you?" I asked still trying to gather a clue as to who she was. "And have you ever been to my House?"
"I'm fourteen, and No Mam I ain't never been to your house but I know where you stay because I used to love your son... But he said I was too young to call him so I called somebody else and now I have this baby.., he's cute and I love him,.. But He.. " .. and as if the child knew she was talking about him.. began to cry in the background...
I listened as she went to get her baby and cooed to him telling him she loved him and I sat here and held my phone and almost cried... I wanted to weep for her.. fourteen and already a Mother... I wanted to weep for the baby.. I pray he will have everything he needs to grow up strong and wonderful Like my son who is not his Father... I am thankful that My son turned away this young woman who was not old enough to date him... I am thankful that he didn't take advantage of her youth and innocence.. And I am sad even for the young man who left her to deal with all these things alone because he will miss so much... Babies are very special gifts.
Finally she returned to the phone and told me she had to hang up and feed her Boy... I asked her again to tell me her name and she refused... Saying that she was sorry to have bothered me... I asked her if there was anything I could do for her and she said That she had read my blog and that she had seen a poem I wrote for one of Cooper's friends .. she wondered if I would write her one too... One that would let her know that she was important ... After I hung up from her I sobbed... I still didn't know who she was.. . I hoped that the next time she called she would tell me...
I doubt that my son would know... Girls have been calling him since he was too young to even be interested in them... I used to fuss and tell him girls weren't supposed to call little boys... I often heard him tell girls that he was dating someone when he wasn't or tell the youngest ones not to call him again... But he was always kind about it... Always gentle with the girls feelings. He used to say he hated to hurt anyone... I told her to call me if she needed anything and she said she would... She giggled and said she might just call to talk and I told her she could... I did write her a poem... and I have included it here.. She called a few more times.. always just to ask some little question about the child or just to talk a minute..Several years have gone by since she last called and I think of her often.. She never would share her name with me and for the life of me I could never guess.. I hope that life has been kind to her and her son.. and that Motherhood has been her greatest journey!
I went back to the kitchen and again began cleaning up... No sooner than I got my hands good and wet again than I heard the ring ring of the phone once more... I stopped what I was doing and came again to the phone answering with an annoyed Hellooo!.. This time I only got a half of a giggle and again the buzz... I looked on the box and it was the same number... Now I was really annoyed... I looked at the number again and looked in my own cell phone to see if it was someone I knew.. Nope. That number wasn't in my phone... I was standing there trying to think of who it could be when It rang again.. this time I was ready... I was standing beside the desk and I grabbed it on the first ring... "Do NOT hang up on me again!".. I yelled into the receiver... Silence.. Not a sound could I hear in return for my yell... "Now" I said taking a few deep breaths to calm myself down.. "Who is this?"
"Oh I can't tell you that" she answered with a giggle following her words..
"What number are you trying to call" I asked.... "Yours" she replied..
OK I'm now ready to choke this person who I am relatively sure is female and not very old...and from the sound of things right then did.. she didn't appear very bright... But Being the kindly;.. ( Hack hack) Wonderful;.. ( I'm choking myself here with these lies.) Grandmotherly.. ( OK so I am a grandma!) type of person that I am... I decided to play along with her for a minute or two...
"So now that you have me on the phone, Do you know my name?" I asked..
"Yea!" She said.."Well then who am I? What is my name?" I asked...
"You know your name! I know you know your own name!" She answered...
Deciding to take a different tactic I said " And then do I know your Name?"
"Yea" she said "I think you do but I can't tell you who I am right now."
"OK" says I, "But I was busy so I'm hanging up now since we don't even know who each other are." I had really had enough and still had dishes to wash.
"No wait Miss Patsy" she said.. "I gotta ask you some stuff!"
OK Now we were getting somewhere. She does appear to know my name and since she's calling me Miss Patsy she is most likely a friend of one of my children... Or she is one of the children I kept in daycare... Or... OK, She could still be anybody... But we have now established that she knows me...
I was just about to ask her what stuff she needed to ask me when she suddenly blurted out... " Does Cooper love me,.. I called him before but he said I was too young to call him and Now my baby daddy is gone and I was wondering if you think He might love me now that I'm a woman... I have a cute baby boy. 'Cept he cries all the time."... I was floored... Cooper is my son.. But hadn't lived here in quiet a while... He had been on the other side of the country for months training for a new job there... And even though this young girl knew me... I was clueless as to who she was...My mind was reeling.. I was pretty sure that he wasn't the baby daddy.. as she called it.. so that was at least a worry off my mind.
So we talked for a while this woman child and I... I assured her that I didn't want to hurt her feelings but that If a boy didn't like her It was nothing wrong with her it was just that sometimes people didn't match like that... And that if a young man told her she was too young to be calling him it was probably because he was actually too old to date her...
"Oh" she said "so it don't mean I'm ugly or nothing like that? Cause I ain't fat since I had the baby."
"And how old are you?" I asked still trying to gather a clue as to who she was. "And have you ever been to my House?"
"I'm fourteen, and No Mam I ain't never been to your house but I know where you stay because I used to love your son... But he said I was too young to call him so I called somebody else and now I have this baby.., he's cute and I love him,.. But He.. " .. and as if the child knew she was talking about him.. began to cry in the background...
I listened as she went to get her baby and cooed to him telling him she loved him and I sat here and held my phone and almost cried... I wanted to weep for her.. fourteen and already a Mother... I wanted to weep for the baby.. I pray he will have everything he needs to grow up strong and wonderful Like my son who is not his Father... I am thankful that My son turned away this young woman who was not old enough to date him... I am thankful that he didn't take advantage of her youth and innocence.. And I am sad even for the young man who left her to deal with all these things alone because he will miss so much... Babies are very special gifts.
Finally she returned to the phone and told me she had to hang up and feed her Boy... I asked her again to tell me her name and she refused... Saying that she was sorry to have bothered me... I asked her if there was anything I could do for her and she said That she had read my blog and that she had seen a poem I wrote for one of Cooper's friends .. she wondered if I would write her one too... One that would let her know that she was important ... After I hung up from her I sobbed... I still didn't know who she was.. . I hoped that the next time she called she would tell me...
I doubt that my son would know... Girls have been calling him since he was too young to even be interested in them... I used to fuss and tell him girls weren't supposed to call little boys... I often heard him tell girls that he was dating someone when he wasn't or tell the youngest ones not to call him again... But he was always kind about it... Always gentle with the girls feelings. He used to say he hated to hurt anyone... I told her to call me if she needed anything and she said she would... She giggled and said she might just call to talk and I told her she could... I did write her a poem... and I have included it here.. She called a few more times.. always just to ask some little question about the child or just to talk a minute..Several years have gone by since she last called and I think of her often.. She never would share her name with me and for the life of me I could never guess.. I hope that life has been kind to her and her son.. and that Motherhood has been her greatest journey!
Young Mother
Oh Young Mother
You have barely learned
to live yourself and yet
I hear the great love
in your voice as you
calm your tiny son's fears.
You are his everything.
Love him freely and he will
return your wonderful love.
You are important to him as
he is to you. The love you share
will grow as the two of you grow.
Let your Love be your guide.
For Motherhood does not come
with age. Motherhood Comes with
the love we hold for a child!
Written By: Patricia Sawyer
3-17-2008
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Thanks for stopping by.. I had a lot of thins to share today and have broken them all up into two posts instead of just one long one.. I welcome both comments and followers.. Have a wonderful day!
Patsy
1 comment:
What a touching post! I so felt the initial frustrations, then the easing, then the feeling concern and gentle kindness for this young woman/child. Your poem is a wonderful tribute, filled with much wisdom!
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