Hey Bro

For Monday, August 15, 2011

I had a nice talk with my brother Kevin yesterday. He called my parents and since they had gone into town, he caught me instead. It’d been awhile since we’d chatted over the phone. Seems the years and our busy schedules, keeping track of our children and our careers had interrupted the regular telephone conversations we used to have. For years, we used to call each other regularly to check in, to share a funny story, or to ask simple if unimportant questions such as, “What is so-and-so’s last name? The one who starred with so-and-so in that movie?” Dumb questions. Dumb jokes. Stupid notes on observations. It never really mattered whether we had a reason to call. We just did. We both moved to the southern part of the state around the same time some 25 years ago, and I suppose we saw one another as each other’s safety net, at least at first. I understand all that occurs to place changes in our lives, but I must admit that I’ve missed those talks on the phone.

It’s a little ironic, however, because I don’t like the telephone very much. When it rings, whether here at camp or at home, I jump a foot. I much prefer someone else to get it, as it is usually for one of the children anyhow. Or else it’s another telemarketer. The days of picking up the phone to hear a friend on the line have given way to email and Facebook messages. Some days, a reunion with a friend is arranged between a combination of emails and text messages as was the case when my friend Ree and I got together last month. When we did see one another in person, it was the first time we’d heard one another's voices in over a year.

I had seen my brother three times this summer. He’d come to watch our daughter’s performance as Cinderella in June and we’d gone to his house to celebrate his daughter Hannah’s high school graduation the following week. We saw one another over the Fourth of July just a week or so after that, when we’d both traveled up to attend our high school class reunions being held the same weekend despite the ten year difference in our graduation years. But the chance telephone chat we had today meant more to me than the other three visits combined. For a little while, it felt like we were each others' safety net once again. That made me feel good and yes, it made me cry.

I like to write and emails, texts, and Facebook discussions are quite convenient and allow us to carry on with our day-to-day schedules without worry of disruption. But I do admit that it was still nice to pick up the phone to hear the sound of my brother’s voice today. When he was about to hang up he said, “Hang in there. I love you”. I was too choked up to respond with anything other than, “Okay”. But I think he must know I’d have said it back if I could have. And maybe, when I gain my composure, I’ll call him and tell him so.