“Didn’t you tell the weatherman that was too hot?” Maga asked.
“I tried. He didn’t listen.”
“I guess not. I don’t like it when it’s that hot.”
“But you also don’t like it when it’s too cold either.”
“That’s true.”
“Would you rather it be too hot or too cold?”
“Too cold, I guess because when it’s too cold you can go inside and get warm, but when it’s that hot, it’s very difficult to cool off.”
“Yeah, I guess I do agree with that.”
“What else have you been up to?” Maga asked.
“Let’s see. It’s been rather quiet. But there’s softball. Playoffs are happening this week.”
“Do I remember you’re a pitcher?”
“You do!”
“Good for you.”
“Good for you.” I echoed.
Sometimes her memory astounds me and I can’t help but be a cheerleader for her. We then careened around variations of the same conversation of sports vs. how quiet it’s been vs. how hot vs. when was I coming to visit her.
“Umm, I was just there two weeks ago!” (Memory fading…)
“Oh, I guess you were. I suppose it’s too close to that to expect you to stop by again.”
“I mean I’d love to. My wallet, however…”
“I really enjoyed your visit when you were here.” (Reader, I doubted the truth of the statement she made…)
“It was a really fun visit. I got to see you 3x.”
“And how was the Reunion thing? What did you do?”
“We had meals and a meeting and games and free time to hang out. [Niece M] and I went out on the lake.”
“Is she the youngest?”
“The oldest.”
“Seems like they all have 3 kids.” (Memory improving…)
“Seems that way.”
“Who else of Cathy’s kids has 3?” (Memory improving + fading…)
(Reader: Cathy is my mom. Maga knows better than to refer to her as Cathy in front of me, but she’s not wrong about 3 being a common choice for number of children.)
“[Brother G], [Sister J]. How many kids do you think [Sister E] has?”
“She has zero. As do you.”
I chuckled. Her memory always seems to suss out just when I’m testing her. It’s nice when it’s super quiet here and I don’t have any stories to regal her with to be able to liven up the conversation with some playful banter.
Abigail Mumford 