My Regret

the phone rang during supper. No one wanted to get it. We were devouring butterscotch pie. My favorite with graham cracker crust. My mother called my name Said “get the phone” I jumped up An old lady said “Is your mother there?” I made fun of the old lady’s voice as I handed the phone to Mom. Mom yelled “DICK!” Dad jumped up and grabbed Mom before she hit the floor. She had fainted. It was my grandfather on the phone. Not an old lady, just a crackly grief-stricken voice. My mother’s mother had died that day. I could not face butterscotch pie for fifty years after this.