One day when I called my parents and learned that my mom was out doing errands, I thought, Good. This time they can't talk to each other while I sit on the other end listening to them decide whose turn it is to bring in the mail. At least I'll have a nice, normal, two-way conversation with Dad.
But about 10 minutes into our talk, my dad abruptly broke off what he had been saying. "Those people who're supposed to be moving in next door are back again," he said excitedly. "They've been saying they're moving in for a month now, but they just show up sometimes and then go away. Just a minute. I'm going to go see what's going on over there."
Incredibly, he put the phone down, interrupting a call from someone 500 miles away to find out what was going on 40 feet away. Things must be really slow around there to generate this much excitement. My end of the phone conversation obviously hadn't been very exciting, either.
By the time he came back, I could have had a week's worth of laundry washed and dried and put away, baked a couple of cakes, and finished my entire spring cleaning.
"Well?" I said to the Neighborhood Peeper. "What did you find out?"
"Nothing," he said in disappointment. "I couldn't see anything. They must have gone around the other side of the house. Or maybe inside."
I could imagine my 85-year-old father trotting -- his trot may be slower than it used to be, but he can still trot -- from window to window, straining to get a glimpse of the action next door. His tone indicated that he strongly suspected some sort of illegal activity, because if these people were legit, why hadn't they already moved in, and why were they being so secretive about their movements? More to the point, why hadn't they told HIM what they were up to?
Later I told my mother about the incident. She made an exasperated clucking sound. "He is obsessed with finding out what's going on over there," she said. "I'm sure they're just fixing the place up before they move in. I try to keep the blinds closed, but it doesn't do any good. You know your father."
Yes, I do. But I still don't know what it will take to have a nice, normal, two-way phone conversation with him.
1 comment:
Here may be, just may be, a solution to having a good two way conversation with your dad. Suggest the next time he sees the new neighbors, just march right over there with a gift. Make sure he puts on some shades,(dark ones), and when they open the door he can scan them, & maybe see what is going on. Tell him to call you back with his findings.It works, just ask the shadow.for only the shadow knows.
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