E.T. Phone Home?

Yesterday, something weird happened in my life. It seems to happen more often than I would like, and I’m realizing that I use the word “weird” more often now than I did in the past. But this one . . . well this time, this oddity started me in thinking. My thoughts went from the macabre humor to serious in a matter of minutes. But before I tell you about what happened, I need you to know three things that I believe. I know not everyone will agree, but that is okay by me.

I believe in God.

I believe in Heaven, and that we are all headed there at some point. I’m not the one to judge.

I know that when we die, we will see our loved ones again.

So now that you know that about me, I have to tell you what happened. Yesterday was a dreary, rainy day. It didn’t feel much like the end of May with temperatures in the 50’s and a continuous drizzle of rain. It was the perfect day to get out of the house in jeans and t-shirt, and to meet friends for lunch. The plan was to meet at 11:00, have lunch and then head on out to finish what ever was on our respective to-do lists for the day. It is here that I need to add that I am blessed with some amazing friends from the many facets of life I have had, and I feel I don’t get to spend as much time with all of them that I would like. This means that sometimes, when we do meet, our lunches might run a wee bit longer that we planned. Not surprisingly, yesterday was one of those days. We did indeed meet at 11:00, and left the restaurant after 2:00. After all, I did need to get home in time for the school bus!

Okay, I know, nothing “weird” has happened yet, right? Well here is where my day jumped track . . . I made it home in time for the bus. The children and I walked in the house discussing whether or not it was a good day to have ice cream for a snack. (The verdict here, was no. It was too cold outside). As they moved on to the kitchen I noticed that the home phone was showing we had missed a call. So naturally I checked to see who had called, and whether or not they had left a message. I’m pretty sure you can’t guess who called. Or maybe you can now that I listed what I believe at the top. The name on the caller ID yesterday . . . Chris D. Yep. My husband’s name was right there at the top of the caller ID listed as a missed call. I believe my heart may have skipped a beat when I saw that. I clicked the button on it to show me the number from where he called. It showed our home number. Yes, you did read that correctly. Apparently Chris called from our home phone. My heart skipped a second beat. The time stamp on the call was May 29, at 1:50 pm. Unfortunately there was no message.

My immediate reaction was to continue to hold the phone, walk to the kitchen to check on the girls, and then to call my Mom. Yes, I called my Mom, because this is why we have Moms, to answer some questions that you just can’t fathom at the time. Mom’s know all the answers, right?! (I love you Mom!) As I talked to Mom, and my heart rate slowed down a bit, I did walk throughout the house to check every room and closet. Everything looked like the exact same mess my children had left in the morning. I checked the re-dial feature on all the phones in the house, and not one of them showed as having dialed itself, ever. So now what to think? My youngest suggested that Daddy was calling to talk about his bowling adventure from the night before. I thought that was a fairly reasonable explanation. (See Bowling at Bedtime to clarify).

I will tell you now, there is most likely a perfect explanation as to why my home phone called itself in the middle of the afternoon while I was having lunch with friends and I wasn’t even in the house. I’m sure there is some technical explanation that involves spoofing and scamming and technical explanations that I will tune out as soon as someone tries to explain it to me, because it will make my brain hurt.

But, the whole situation got me thinking: What if? What if there wasn’t a technical explanation? What if there really was a phone call from Chris? What if we all received a call from a loved one who had passed away? What would you say? What would you want to hear? What if you had just one more time to talk? My thoughts on the question have been all over the place in the last 24 hours. Here is just the short list of what I would say/ask . . .

5. Please tell me there is an offshore account somewhere and how to access it. Or can we have the winning lottery numbers? It would be great to continue to be able to volunteer and not have to worry about working. Volunteering is so much more fun.

4. Tell the guardian angels that have been looking out for all of us, thank you. We’ve had a bumpy ride, and I can’t promise it will get any easier with all of us getting older, but we’re doing our best here.

3. Can you look into that big book of “Why” there in Heaven to give me a really good explanation as to why life took this turn? I haven’t been able to come up with any reasonable answers.

2. The children are going to be okay, right? They are pretty amazing, aren’t they?

1. I love you.