Rescued by Love
Dec. 23rd, 2016 05:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
todayiamadaisy"Oh, we are honoured," said my mother, pointing out two people walking up our driveway yesterday: her older brother and his wife.
Uncle B came into the kitchen and handed over a box of chocolates, then came over to watch me shelling nuts. "What are those green and purple buggers?" he asked.
"Pistachios. Want some?" He recoiled.
Aunt A said to him, "Pistachios are *nice*," so I offered her the bowl and she took two. "Yes, these are good ones," she said and, reassured he wouldn't be poisoned, Uncle B stuck his paw in the bowl and scooped out a fistful. He tried one.
"Aw, it's hard. I nearly cracked my teeth." Behind him, Aunt A rolled her eyes. It must have been all right, because he ate the rest.
* * * * *
We went out for dinner with my mother's best friend, Colleen, and her husband and one of their daughters, all staying in the City by the Sea for the night to do family visits today. Colleen said that one of their mutual friends had been to see her last week. "She said she'd been making things that afternoon, and she thought of me, so she brought one over as a Christmas present. Do you know what it was? A pickled turnip. A pickled turnip! A whole turnip in a jar of red water."
My mother said, "I'm glad she didn't think of me when she made it."
"So I had to find something to give her then," said Colleen, "so she ended up with one of the jars of good apricot jam that I was saving."
* * * * *
I woke at 4:53 this morning, having a confused moment of "what's that, what's that?" before realising the phone was ringing. By the time I'd found my glasses and made it out to the kitchen, the phone had stopped. I checked: no message. "Was that the phone?" said my mother. "Who was it?"
I was just about to say I didn't know when it started again. I picked up on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Ah, Alicia," said a familiar voice.
"Uncle G!" My mother's younger brother, who has a farm across the South Australian border.
"You're up early," he said.
"I was awake because the phone was ringing."
"Aw, yeah, I know all about that."
By this stage my mother was next to me making grabby motions at the phone. Uncle G doesn't normally ring at five in the morning, so there was obviously something wrong. On the other hand, his chirpy tone didn't suggest someone about to reveal a sudden bereavement or such.
I handed the phone over and waited. It turned out Uncle G had been woken by his own phone ringing half an hour earlier at four (South Australia being in a different time zone). It was the City by the Sea's paramedics. An elderly cousin had called them and they were taking him to hospital, and they wanted to tell someone. They looked on his phone for the first number that looked like it might belong to a relative, and found Uncle G. He explained that he was interstate, and gave them the name of the cousin's sister and niece here. That done, he decided to ring my mother to ask her to find out more.
"Not at five in the morning!" she said. "I'll wait until after breakfast."
* * * * *
I didn't get back to sleep after that. I got up not long after six to feed the cat, then drove down to the beach to go for a walk.
Down at the beach, the summer carnival was being set up. A magpie walked over the dodgem car floor. I was early enough that the racehorses were still being worked, a great herd of them wading slowly through the shallows.
My mother phoned the hospital after breakfast and found out about her cousin. She rang Uncle G back to say he was in intensive care with fluid on his lungs, and she could go up to see him tomorrow.
Family duty done, we went to the supermarket for our final shop (leaving only the fish to pick up tomorrow morning). The day was well started by then, and as we walked back to the car the tinsel wrapped around the street lights glittered in the sun.
Uncle B came into the kitchen and handed over a box of chocolates, then came over to watch me shelling nuts. "What are those green and purple buggers?" he asked.
"Pistachios. Want some?" He recoiled.
Aunt A said to him, "Pistachios are *nice*," so I offered her the bowl and she took two. "Yes, these are good ones," she said and, reassured he wouldn't be poisoned, Uncle B stuck his paw in the bowl and scooped out a fistful. He tried one.
"Aw, it's hard. I nearly cracked my teeth." Behind him, Aunt A rolled her eyes. It must have been all right, because he ate the rest.
* * * * *
We went out for dinner with my mother's best friend, Colleen, and her husband and one of their daughters, all staying in the City by the Sea for the night to do family visits today. Colleen said that one of their mutual friends had been to see her last week. "She said she'd been making things that afternoon, and she thought of me, so she brought one over as a Christmas present. Do you know what it was? A pickled turnip. A pickled turnip! A whole turnip in a jar of red water."
My mother said, "I'm glad she didn't think of me when she made it."
"So I had to find something to give her then," said Colleen, "so she ended up with one of the jars of good apricot jam that I was saving."
* * * * *
I woke at 4:53 this morning, having a confused moment of "what's that, what's that?" before realising the phone was ringing. By the time I'd found my glasses and made it out to the kitchen, the phone had stopped. I checked: no message. "Was that the phone?" said my mother. "Who was it?"
I was just about to say I didn't know when it started again. I picked up on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Ah, Alicia," said a familiar voice.
"Uncle G!" My mother's younger brother, who has a farm across the South Australian border.
"You're up early," he said.
"I was awake because the phone was ringing."
"Aw, yeah, I know all about that."
By this stage my mother was next to me making grabby motions at the phone. Uncle G doesn't normally ring at five in the morning, so there was obviously something wrong. On the other hand, his chirpy tone didn't suggest someone about to reveal a sudden bereavement or such.
I handed the phone over and waited. It turned out Uncle G had been woken by his own phone ringing half an hour earlier at four (South Australia being in a different time zone). It was the City by the Sea's paramedics. An elderly cousin had called them and they were taking him to hospital, and they wanted to tell someone. They looked on his phone for the first number that looked like it might belong to a relative, and found Uncle G. He explained that he was interstate, and gave them the name of the cousin's sister and niece here. That done, he decided to ring my mother to ask her to find out more.
"Not at five in the morning!" she said. "I'll wait until after breakfast."
* * * * *
I didn't get back to sleep after that. I got up not long after six to feed the cat, then drove down to the beach to go for a walk.
Down at the beach, the summer carnival was being set up. A magpie walked over the dodgem car floor. I was early enough that the racehorses were still being worked, a great herd of them wading slowly through the shallows.
My mother phoned the hospital after breakfast and found out about her cousin. She rang Uncle G back to say he was in intensive care with fluid on his lungs, and she could go up to see him tomorrow.
Family duty done, we went to the supermarket for our final shop (leaving only the fish to pick up tomorrow morning). The day was well started by then, and as we walked back to the car the tinsel wrapped around the street lights glittered in the sun.