Things Change

For typical you and me when the phone rings at 3 o’anything in the morning we are prone to panic. We sit bolt upright with a slight pound in the heartbeat. Things are not typical at Chez Spence. The phone rings at all hours of the late night/wee morning with annoying regularity. My husband’s position at work requires him to be available all the time…and I do mean all the time. The phone is by his side of the bed for that very reason and when it rings, I barely notice it. Sometimes I even sleep through it. 3:52am was no different. I vaguely heard the ring. J was out of room, saying hello before I could even roll over and register. Here’s where things change: it was my mother. I could tell by J’s quick, “no..no that’s okay.” He never tells his staff okay to anything. My first terrified thought was back to the typical, “who died?” Ruth was my immediate without-thinking thought. Sh!t. Then I heard the tone in my husband’s sleepy, tender voice and had a third thought, Silas! My sister finally had her second son!  

Things change. I was supposed to see sirsy tonight but for the second time I’m canceling. Family has always come first. Last time it was heartbreak, this time it’s celebration. Guess I’ll be heading to Maine today!