Monday, May 30, 2011

All in the Family

It's Miller Time - should be a good Memorial Day Weekend for these ladies!

I love calling my family. Makes me wonder why I don’t do it more often?

One of the reasons I’ve never liked calling people on the phone is that I always feel like I’m imposing. Like I’m interrupting a much needed nap, the third course of a 5 course dinner, or the planning of a military coup . I can only speculate that it’s a hold-over from the days before caller ID - and even before answering machines I guess. Remember there were those few years when if the phone rang the norm was:

1. Run to the phone,

2. Stand by it as you let the call roll over to the machine,

3. Listen to who was calling, and

4. Decide if you were going to answer it.

Invariably it was someone you didn’t want to talk to saying “pick up!” And remember, once voicemail came onto the scene, there were those people who didn’t get it and they would still say “pick up!”?

Now people just look at their phones and see that it’s you. Or one step better, they’ve got you set up with a special ringtone. I’m pretty sure that Doc. B. has selected “crickets” or “angry cat” as my ringtone. A friend has a “bark” ringtone for her boss. But my favorite was the woman on MARTA who had “gunshots” as her ringtone. Nobody even flinched when her phone rang. But I did see a couple of old guys chuckle.

So, back to my original point. When I call my parents, they don’t look at caller ID because I don’t think they have it. They just answer the phone – period. And they don’t just say “hello”. Sometimes they say “good morning!” or if it’s Thanksgiving, my dad might say “gobble, gobble, gobble.” Or once my dad realizes it’s one of his four offspring, he might say “is this my favorite first-born daughter?” They are so dang sweet! Their voices are upbeat. They seem genuinely happy to hear from me. I can only guess they would sound this way even if an IRS agent called them to schedule an audit. My mom would likely be running to the calendar to “pen it in”. Wait, my mom’s brother is a retired IRS attorney so perhaps they’ve had practice (nod to uncle R. if you are reading this blog!). And not that they have anything to hide from the IRS.

My sisters are the same way. For example today I called to see what middle sis and the kids were up to on this holiday weekend. One of the kids was promptly put on the phone (with my sis guiding the call) to talk about what they’d had for lunch. Carrots, cottage cheese, corn on the cob, chips, cold drinks, catsup and c-hot dogs. All in honor of aunt Care - they were eating a lunch filled with “C’s”.

And my niece even laughed when I asked if they’d had any c-olives for dessert!

I love my family! Happy Memorial Day to all of you! Hug a soldier or the relative of a soldier if you can!