Before I explain what happened, there’s history to be understood:

Mom has a few former students who have made her a permanent part of their lives. When she was younger mom used to discourage this, but as she approached retirement she seemed to find it harder to kick these kids out of the classroom nest.

Now a few of them call frequently, often waking her up. They’re very persistent, and mom is suddenly too timid to tell them to stop.

Mom now gets stressed when the phone rings. She checks to see who’s calling, and if it’s one of her former students she frequently doesn’t answer. So they send email demanding she call them right away.

This was not on my mind at all when we were on the phone tonight. All of a sudden she shrieked “CRAP!” She let out a short burst of extremely emotional cursing, then there was silence.

My first thought was that she fell. “What?” I asked.

There was no answer. I started going through the possibilities. I was well past “falling” and was working my way through “brain tumor again” when I remembered she hadn’t answered my question. (Admittedly, it was only about 15 seconds.)

“WHAT?! WHAT IS IT?” I yelled. I started trying to remember the names of her neighbors.

“I HAVE ANOTHER CALL!” she wailed, in the tone of voice normally reserved for the reporting of unexpected tragedy.

I dropped the phone.

I have no idea how long I sat there. When I picked up the phone again mom was asking “Are you THERE?”

“It was one of my students!” she yelled at me. I told her that she scared me to death.

“You’re making a big deal out of this,” she informed me.

I’m over a thousand miles away, I hear my mother shrieking hysterically then nothing, she doesn’t answer when I ask what’s wrong, and in the end it’s all for a lousy phone call, and I’m making a big deal out of this.

It’s too much for me to take. I can’t handle it anymore.