The phone rang today and it made me think about my mother. Mom had a friend...Mrs. Brennner. She and my mom talked on the phone each afternoon at 5:00. It was regular as clockwork. Never failed. If mom did not call her, she called my mom. It was always curious to me that they had that much to say. I mean, how much can happen in your day as a housewife that you have converse about each evening??? Neither worked so what in the world did they talk about...cobwebs, dust bunnies, new furniture polish, or the price of milk??? I pretty much accepted it as fact and just knew when the phone rang at 5 that it was not for me. This continued until my moms friend passed away. I knew my mom missed her but I never thought about how lonely her late afternoons must be without her "phone a friend".I have a "phone a friend". I actually come home from work each day and pretty much know Debbie will call. We hardly ever see each other because we do not even live in the same town, but I do not know what I would do without her phone calls. We connect. Something about our lives intertwines, and we never lack for conversation. She has so many of the same issues that I have....she gets it. She has been my Mrs. Brenner. Do my kids think it is strange? I do not know. I do not ask...but I never asked my mom about it either. I just knew how important it was to her.
Do we become our mothers? Is that need for female companionship that great? Yes. I cannot talk to my own husband like I talk to her or my other girl friends. I am so blessed to have many great friends. Not all of my special friends are the ones I talk to the most on the phone. I love them all equally. Each one has a special place in my life. Those bonds are the things that keep us sane. Debbies afternoon calls are very important to me, if for no other reason than it is a constant in my crazy world. I know my mom missed her friend so much. I wish now I had called my mom more in the afternoon after Mrs. Brenner died. We learn these things too late.
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