SINKING SHIPS

“An aunt is someone special to remember with warmth, think of with pride, and cherish with love.” — Unknown I wish my girls were here with me thought Aunt Bonnie as she let the shock of her diagnoses sink in.  Myelodysplastic syndrome, she never even heard of it before today. I should have gotten the girls together a lot sooner but better late than never. She hoped never would not be the outcome. She went to her roll top desk drawer and pulled out the little gold phone book Abigail had given her one year for her birthday.  She opened it to Bella's number.  She dialed the number hoping to reach Bella directly. Just my luck, her assistant. She left a message for her and then turned over to Abigail.  She slowly dialed the number hoping she could keep it together. She was getting her answering machine.  Oh, how she hated those things.  She left her message and then dialed Calista's number. Disconnected, anger swelled up as Aunt Bonnie thought about the position Beau had put Calista in. What to do now? Time to resort to pen and paper.  I hope my girls get back to me as soon as possible. Bella had been running all day.  She was exhausted and still had hours of work ahead of her.  It was so busy this time of year.  She had been overseeing hotel operations for years, catering to every guest’s needs to ensure they had a great vacation.  She could not even remember the last time she had taken a vacation. Entering the office, she noticed her assistant had already left for the day and a stack of messages were waiting on her.  As she scanned the messages, one specific message jumped out at her.  A message from Aunt Bonnie.  She had not spoken to her family in years.  What could Aunt Bonnie want?  She had always loved Aunt Bonnie.  It had been hard to leave all those many years ago.  She hoped everything was alright as she picked up the receiver to return her call. Oh, my aching feet, Abigail thought as she flopped down on her oversized couch. She loved the way she just sank in to the cushions.  She had slept many nights in this spot. Today had been an extremely busy day at the hospital. All she wanted to do was run a warm bath to soak in.  As she looked over towards the phone, she saw the annoying red-light flashing.  She very seldom received calls on her home phone.  As she pressed the play button, she heard her mother’s sweet, soft voice asking her to call her as soon as possible.  Abigail had not spoken to her mother in quite some time.  She had let work get in the way.  She prayed nothing was wrong as she picked up the phone and nervously returned her call. As Calista shut the bedroom door, she hoped sleep would not escape her again tonight.  She was exhausted.  She had waited tables all day at the small dingy diner down the road. Then she had to come home to two wide open kids and a dirty house. She never had time to herself to just relax, there was always something to be done.  She looked over to her desk and saw the pile of mail.  Guess I put it off long enough.  She pulled herself up off the bed and walked over to the desk. As she looked through the stack of mail she sorted it. She could not believe how much junk mail that would just end up in the trash and then there still remained a stack of bills.   She was not sure why she bothered. She did not have money to pay any of the bills. She stopped suddenly.  Interesting, a letter from her mother.  She had not had time to visit her in several months.  She guessed by now her mother knew her phone had been disconnected and that was why she was writing.   She opened the letter looking at her mother's beautiful handwriting. It looked like her pen flowed across the paper.  The letter started with “My Dearest Calista” but was extremely brief with the following, “Please call me as soon as possible. It is important. Love Mom”. She felt a sense of embarrassment to know her mother was now aware of her financial situation. She would borrow the neighbor’s phone tomorrow.  It was odd that her mother had nothing else to say.