Phone Chain Elders

Our 13 year old granddaughter lives on the other side of the country. She constantly calls my wife bursting with the excitement of big news. Her enthusiasm is the vaccine for my cynicism. If I am around, my wife adds me to the call. Thankfully Noemi tactfully lets her grandmother know that I am actually not needed on certain calls. On the few occasions when Noemi dials my phone, her opening words are always, “Why isn’t Gami answering her phone?” The big news can be a new boyfriend, a new hair color or style, new paint on her nails or bedroom walls, a new song she wants to sing or play for us on the ukulele or guitar, some school or athletic success, or something hysterical she and her girlfriends said or did. She has usually already shared any exciting news with said girlfriends because we hear about their reactions. We are always appropriately enthusiastic about any and all Noemi news items. So hopefully we will remain on her phone chain longer than we would logically expect. We avoid being judgmental because she is our link to the lives of her parents and brother. I do not know how typical she is. I do not remember our three sons communicating like this with their grandparents or with us for that matter. My siblings seemed to love our grandparents as much as I did but I do not remember the same level of communication or public enthusiasm when we were entering our teenage years. Maybe the difference is that we did not have our own phones. Our family phone was attached to the wall and had no video capability. I thought we were affluent but hindsight confirms that we were deprived.

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