Crumbs From the Corner: Adventures in Woolgathering

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Poor Hand



"The real mystery of life is not a problem to be solved, it is a reality to be experienced."

-J.J. Van der Leeuw

Mater woke up yesterday morning, reached for her cell phone and constructed a message of goodwill and sympathy to my brother. He injured his hand the other evening and Mater, wondering what the condition of the bandaged appendage might be, carefully typed: "how is my poor son's hand?"
No, thought she, it was best not to suggest that he might be impoverished.
She quickly adjusted the appropriate letters: "how is my son's poor hand?" and sent off the message with a flourish.
Moments later a call came from the fellow in question.
Tongue firmly in cheek, he exclaimed, "what do you mean, saying I'm your poor son? I'm not poor! I'm rich!"
Mater soon advised my brother that he must have read the message incorrectly. After he examined the note, and after a puzzled Mater glanced at her virtual folder of sent messages, it was understood that he had inexplicably managed to read it exactly as the first message had been written- despite the fact that it had been deleted and had never in fact been sent.
A mother ought always to be careful about her flashes of thought. That magical mother-child connection is not a one-way system.

5 comments:

hele said...

I love the idea that telepathy used a phone to get a message across.

And like every other quote I love this one. Your quotes are always exactly what I most feel like hearing.

polona said...

you and your family always seem to be in sync with the cosmic vibes...

tangobaby said...

Now THAT is something Google will never be able to do!

Pauline said...

Interesting! I wonder if son had written about poor Mom's hand, would he have rephrased it?

Phyllis Hunt McGowan said...

Hele, "... telepathy used a phone to get a message across." I like your phrasing. It's true- it was telepathy, however it might work.

Polona, True- some bond, or connection. Yesterday she went into the city and struggled to find a place to park- and found one just behind my brother's van. The only spot in town. The little things add up.

Tangobaby, I agree ;) it's a resource that can't be tapped into for profit or technology. Mostly it's mothers that possess it.

Pauline, welcome back! I hope you enjoyed your trip. In answer to your question- perhaps not ;) He might have just written and kept it as it was. But one can't be too sure...

Please look around, explore my writing, leave a crumb:
I welcome comments and thoughts.