By My husband jokes that my worrying has saved my kids a bunch of times. It’s his way of telling me I worry too much
I don’t think of it as worrying; I think of it as expressing concern.
I follow storm chasers online, so when serious storms approach one of my kids’ towns, I warn them. This is simply practical. If I failed to warn them and they were injured by a tornado or hail storm, I’d feel terrible.
Donna Marmorstein, Aberdeen Insider Columnist
Recently, though, I forgot to worry. I mean, I forgot to express concern about a son who was traveling. I knew he was visiting Virginia a few weeks ago, but I didn’t remember to ask when he was leaving or when he’d be back home in Chicago.
MORE: Soliloquy: From ink wells to blink wells and think wells
He called once while there, so I knew he’d arrived safely.
Somehow, though, after a particularly busy week, when I had other things to, uh, express concern about, I forgot to think about my son.
First, I’d misplaced some money. I spent hours searching to no avail. Also, the school shooting hoax in Aberdeen happened that same week.
My granddaughter was in a classroom during her lunch period, with the teacher out, when suddenly the school went on lockdown. The room had a lot of windows, and she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do, so she called her mom, and her mom – my daughter – came to me.
My daughter had been communicating with her daughter for a while when, suddenly, there was no response. What had actually happened was that my granddaughter was moved to a safer room, but left her phone behind, so the texting had stopped.
Now, if there was ever legitimate cause for concern, this would be it.
The school shooter calls turned out to be hoaxes, but it was a tense time.
MORE: Update: Law enforcement investigation finds no threat at Central High School
While all this was happening, another daughter learned that she and her family needed to quickly find a new place to live, and this was after a long struggle with her husband’s health emergencies. Where could they find a place large enough for a family of six in a short time?
These were legitimate, umm, concerns.
So I forgot that my son was traveling.
When a child, no matter how old, is traveling, all sorts of things can go wrong. If they are driving, they can run into the gas station scam where a woman in distress gives a sob story and asks to use your credit card to fill her tank. Then, she, or a hidden partner, manages to skim your account and rob you blind.
Or, the traveling child can run into a tornado.
Or, he could park in a big city and have all his windows smashed and his dashboard stripped of all its electronics.
Or, his child could be kidnapped.
Or, he could fall asleep at the wheel.
Or, he could drive off a cliff.
If he is flying, he could crash (unlikely).
Or, the parents could be separated from their children.
Or, they could lose their IDs and have trouble returning.
Or, they could have their rental car carjacked or damaged.
Or, they could trust the GPS that is set to eco mode and take six hours getting to their destination instead of one hour, then fall asleep on the road.
Lots of things can be cause for concern.
But, I forgot to worry! I didn’t even know if he was driving or flying, so I was uneasy about twice the dangers.
Five days after my son should have returned, according to his brother, I realized I hadn’t heard from him at all since that one call a week before. When he gets home, he is usually a pretty regular caller.
MORE: Soliloquy: Your robot vacuum might be informing on you
What could have happened? A dozen more items for concern popped up in my mind.
Somehow, though, he arrived home safely despite my lack of apprehension.
Next time, I’ll make sure to be doubly concerned to make up for this lapse.
Donna Marmorstein
Donna Marmorstein lives and writes in Aberdeen.
