Feb. 25, 2004 ~ Tick, tick, tick
It's a funny thing, the passage of time. Seconds pass -- tick, tick, tick -- and a life can change. Or not. As was the case today.
I listen to classical music on the radio, but sometimes they break in with news, and before I know it, something bad about Iraq has filtered in. This morning there was news of another helicopter crash there, two US soldiers killed. Quickly, quickly, I pushed it out of my mind. But it was always there, just beneath the surface, and as it turns out, it's very hard not to think about something. It takes a lot of effort. Perhaps that was why I was just so tired, so exhausted that I had to lie down in the middle of the day. Still, it was dark, cold and rainy out, and curling up in bed with a heating pad and a book didn't seem like such a bad way to pass the time.
We recently got fancy new phones. They are small and lightweight, and it's easy to keep them with me, clipped to a waistband or on the nightstand beside the bed. When the call came in a little while ago, I saw the words "U S Govt." on the Caller ID. You know I didn't want to answer that call. But I had to. Time slowed to a standstill, as the caller identified himself as being with the Army.
Tick, tick, tick.
Have you ever felt like your heart might explode?
"Helicopter down," I thought. But they don't call for fatalities, they call for injuries.
Tick, tick, tick.
Somehow I choked out, "Yes?"
And he asked for College Boy. College Boy. He was a recruiter.
I exhaled, and hoped the caller could not hear my pounding heart. When I was able to talk, I simply said that College Boy didn't live here any more. I offered no more information, and he didn't ask any more questions. Maybe they will give up and stop calling, but somehow I doubt it. So I'd best remember that, the next time I'm terrified by words from a stranger on the phone, or by seeing "U S Govt." on Caller ID.
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