“Are you going on a trip soon?” Maga asked.
“Yes! To visit YOU, Maga!”
“Well, no. Not that.”
I deflated a bit. “It’s a big trip, Maga! I thought you’d be excited about it?!”
“Well, I am,” she said. But clearly she wasn’t.
Oof. Some of her turns of phrase… they cut.
We talked further and she clarified she was excited about my coming to visit her; it’s just that she wasn’t excited about her lack of memory of who had a big trip coming up.
She kept up the questions. I kept not having answers. “Maga. People tell you more things than they do me.”
“No.”
“Yes, truly. You’re the gossip queen.”
“I am?”
“Yes. For real. No one tells me anything. I’m the last to know always.”
“Really?”
“Truly.”
“You mean people tell me more things?”
“Truly.”
With that settled, she veered back to the course of the prior conversation. Having had some space, I quickly realized she meant Sister E and her upcoming trip, which I was happy to gush about.
“Do people in far off countries know how to use computers?” Maga asked, each word dripped with incredulity.
“In fact, they do.”
“Well, thank goodness for Thomas Edison who invented the telephone so we can keep in touch.”
I didn’t have the heart to correct her because nearly every word was punctuated by a cough. “Are you feeling okay, Maga?” I asked. “That cough sounds different than usual.”
“Yes, I know. This has gotten ahold of me or I’ve gotten ahold of it.”
Some of her turns of phrase…man, they get me. It’s like she’s got an accent or something because nearly everything she says sounds more interesting, not to mention, I didn’t know germs could sound so charming!
Abigail Mumford 