"Hello...it's Syd"

My dream felt like more of a visit than a dream. I thought that maybe it was his way of saying goodbye. I had always been telepathically linked to my grandfather, and on this day I awoke startled.

Somewhere around nine o'clock, I decided to pick up the phone. It had been six years since I last spoke to him. The story behind that void is for another time. But let's just say he was an innocent by-stander. As I dialed, I found that I had a giant lump in my throat. I had hoped it wasn't too late.

When he answered the phone, my heart sank. Not for relief but for the mere fact that he sounded so old. Once he realized who it was calling, he began to speak of how things I had never known - had changed, people I had never met - died, and how beautiful the weather was.

It made me a little sad when he asked, "how you been, ba-be?"

Fine, Poncho. I just called because I missed you and I wanted to say hi."

Oh, terrific. It is so good to hear your voice, ba-be. Do you want to talk to Grandma now?"

I wasn't really finished talking to him, but I knew he didn't know what else to say to me. So I let him off the hook, "Okay, Poncho, I love you."

"Ye, hold on, I'll get her."

Once he put the receiver down on the table, I asked myself, "what if that is the last time I get to talk to him?" I wanted him to get back , on the phone. I heard the receiver being picked up and my grandfather saying, "oh, Mother, you goin' be so surprised!"

"Hello?" Her voice was unrecognizable to me. I had always thought of my grandmother as this timeless being that would stay the same age forever. As long as I could remember she had always been the same age.

"Grandma? It's Syd"

"Who?" She almost sounded annoyed.

"Sydney, your granddaughter."

"Oh! Hi, ba-be, it's been so long. Why are you calling me? Are you here in Honolulu? You need a place to stay? You need money?" Why would these be the first things that had come to her mind to asked? Sure I had annual visits with them in the Summer as a kid, but I had never asked for much more than that. But I knew she was just trying to figure out why I was calling. After all, I hadn't made much of an effort in the last six years, so I must want or need something, right?

She did her best to make small talk. She told me of all her recent ailments. I began to feel that lump in my throat again. Only this time the lump was accompanied by tears beginning to form in my eyes. I felt so ashamed. After a few minutes I decided to do everyone a favor and end the awkward phone call. Before I hung up, she asked me for my phone number and address. It was as though I had moved to another planet. She couldn't understand how I was still relatively in the same neighborhood, but never came to see them when they came to visit my mother.

That was it...I lost it. My grandmother said, "don't cry ba-be, everything will be okay." Of course this only made me cry more. Then she said they would be back to visit my mother within the next couple of weeks and I could see them then.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances unexplained at the beginning of this story, that probably won't happen.