Phones

I have a phone that sits beside my bed, but I'm not sure why. A couple of years ago, I turned the ringer off. It was summer, and I was tired of it ringing after I'd gone to bed. I didn't want it to startle me out of my Saturday morning sleeping in sessions either. Truthfully, the handset doesn't even work. The caller ID does. But the glowing light that comes on is not enough to awaken me from my sleep. Why do I keep it there? I figure if it rings and I need to answer it quickly, the speaker phone does work. I could answer it.

On Wednesday, I was up as usual making lunches. The phone rang. It was 6:12 a.m. Nobody calls that early. The caller ID said the name of the closest hospital. It was my mother-in-law. Michael's dad had been taken by ambulance to the hospital at 5:00a.m. He'd had a heart attack. I told her Michael would be there right away.

After hanging up, I scrolled through the caller ID. Sure enough. There were 2 calls just before 5, and a message blinking on the machine. A lot of good that phone in the bedroom does.

The sad part? My father-in-law asked us last week if we had a phone in our bedroom, "just in case" he needed to call in the middle of the night. I assured him we did. I mentally made a note that I should turn on the ringer. Afterall, my teens no longer receive late night calls. Well, actually they do. But nobody calls the house anymore. Everyone has a cell phone. But I forgot.

The ringer is on now. My father-in-law is doing better. His heart attack was mild, and he should be coming home today. Unlike my kids, I am not keeping my cell phone beside my bed. Text messages startle me out of sleep too.