After the play I turn my
phone back on, and there is the message: John is dead. My breath catches. Tears.
Dear John.
A few months ago,
Andrew, in England, asked me for John’s most recent phone number, as John
wasn’t a person to use computers or have an e-mail address, plus he’d recently moved to California. Eight
time zones apart, Andrew and John talked, and I was happy to hear about it, and
we assumed John was in good shape.
He was not. And he
didn’t mention it. It’s just the sort of thing he wouldn’t mention.
It’s possible, the way
time goes, that I hadn’t spoken with him in two years. Is that the scary part
of this post?
He would have turned
eighty-one today.
I lost contact with my friend Frances because life intervened. I agree that it could be considered scary, but for me it was heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteI hope there's no guilt in this post. You're an excellent communicator, and you were probably present for him in ways that have nothing to do with phone calls. Life is full, and the information age is demanding. We do the best we can.
ReplyDeleteOh no. I'm so sorry.
ReplyDelete