Our phone seldom rings. A couple of days ago, I was a bit startled by its sudden intrusion.

I looked at my phone and saw the caller was my older brother. Since I’d not heard from him for several years, I was stunned. Thoughts came to mind that he’d just passed his 87th birthday. Maybe something was wrong.

Thinking back it was funny that I reacted so quickly with the idea it might be bad news. In fact, it turned out to be the opposite. He said he needed to talk to somebody who could remember back to the 1950s or 1960s. The next words out of his mouth were to the effect that I was the “last one left” to help him figure out a few things.

How could I be the one? He was 14 when I was born. How much could I remember about his life? We went on talking about the past and the people in our lives. It’s not clear to me whether I ever answered his questions or not. We shared stories and what we could both remember made for a great conversation.

He ended our call by saying he’d be calling again soon, and he apologized for not keeping in touch. Those words were a beautiful gift.

It’s amazing what you can remember if you have someone to talk with who also might remember a time or a place. But with 14 years between us, I never thought it possible.

I can’t wait for that next phone call.

Image attribution: By Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay