Hang Up

The house was quiet.  Grace and Megan were off doing their “after home school” decompression activities – Grey’s Anatomy, nails, Tik Toking.  Billy had taken the pooch our for a walk.  He had insisted on taking her, “I’ve been inside all day.  I’LL take her!”  He proclaimed emphatically.  Hannah was en-route home from her day trip to UVM to retrieve her belongings.  The house was quiet.

I picked up the phone, it was time to check in with my Mom.  “Hello.”  Her voice steady and calm.  I knew she knew it was me.  Caller ID.  I skipped the “Hello” myself and went right in, “Well, I knew you wouldn’t be out playing cards!”  “Ohhh no! No, no, no.  No cards for me.”

We both laughed, reconnected, shared a few stories when my mother, mid sentence, said “Oh, oh…your sister, your sister is trying to call.”  “When it rains it pours Mom!”  I said.  She paused, “I’ll just call her back.” I responded with a wee bit of sarcasm,  “You’re so busy, don’t forget.  Or better yet, put that on your “I’m Stuck at Home List’ for tomorrow!”  I heard a slight chuckle.

Then, “Ohhh…”  (my mother likes to say “Oh”)  “Jane wants to Face Time.  Oh.  I missed it.”  We were no longer in a conversation.  She was narrating the happenings.

“Wait. Mom.  You can Face Time her back.”  I reengaged her in our conversation.  “How do I do that?”  I walked her through the simple steps and next thing I know I heard my sister voice.  But that didn’t last long.  Someone hung up on someone.

“Hold on, Mom.  We can do this.”  So, at this point, I had the landline to my ear with my Mom on the other end and I grabbed my cell phone to Face Time my sister.  Once I had Jane on the screen,  I tried to get my mom on Face Time. I’ll admit, I yelled for assistance and Grace came to my rescue.

Next thing I knew, I had my mother and sister on Face Time and we start chatting away.  “Wait!”  I yelled, laughing at the ridiculousness I had just discovered.  “Wait, Mom!”  I start laughing so hard, I could barely speak.  “Wait, Mom, we can hang up our phones now!  We DO NOT need to be on the phone while on Face Time.”

“Ohhhhh…yes, yes, I can see that now!”

And we hung up.