“Hi, Maga. It’s Abby.”
“Hello?”
“Hi, Maga. It’s Abby.”
“Hello? Hello?”
“MAGA! IT’S ABBY.”
I pulled the headphones out and switched it to speaker phone and basically screamed, “Can you hear me now?”
“Oh, yes. Hi, Abby dear.”
“Sorry about that, I dropped my phone earlier and it’s acting up now.”
“You dropped it? Were you at home?”
“Walking to work.”
She paused…”Is it a portable phone?”
“Yes. My mobile phone.”
“What type of phone is it.”
“An iphone.”
“Maybe you should take it to a place that fixes iphones.”
“I could do that, but it’s quite old, so it may be on its last legs.”
I never expected to get technological advice from my 98yo grandmother, but, here we are…
“Did you say you got a new car?” Maga asked.
“Nope. Just a new roof.”
“Oh, I wonder who did?”
“Not sure, but it wasn’t me. I have to get a new roof, so I definitely can’t afford a car too.”
“Why do you need a new roof?”
“The current one is leaking.”
“Have you talked to someone about fixing it?”
“Yes.”
“Will it be expensive?”
“Incredibly.”
“Oh dear.”
“Sorry, this has put me in a rather bad mood.”
“That’s understandable.” And then she sweetly attempted to carry the conversation, but when one is at her “advanced age and can’t travel much” the conversation is usually held aloft by me, but having to scream into my phone’s speaker so she could accurately hear me left me feeling like I was yelling at her, which I most definitely wasn’t.
“How are the boys doing?”
“Which boys?”
“Your brothers. [Uncle T] and [Uncle D].”
“They’re not my brothers. They’re my uncles.”
Maga’s confusion over her children, my misbehaving phone, and my broken roof put me over the edge. I quickly/patiently pointed out who her children were vs who my parents were and, I’m sorry to admit, cheered when her caregiver suggested they go sit outside on the balcony.
Maybe the fresh air would do us both good.
Abigail Mumford 