Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:21:59 -0400
From: nabooko
Subject: Phone call from beyond the grave . . .
My Grandma probably never saw a telephone or talked on one. Maybe she had heard of a telephone in the early 1940s- but only the well-to-do could afford them and she certainly was not in that class. A telegram, yes- That was the dreaded medium for letting folks know that someone had died. And during the years of World War II, it as all
to frequent that a telegram arrived, telling of the death of a hometown boy.
My Grandma could churn milk, make butter, grind coffee, bear 10 children- bury 2 of them- But no, she never used a telephone- She died at age 82 in 1944.
I on the other hand, have had too many telephones. Although I still have one rotary in use and one El-cheap-o cell phone. It is so cheap, it doesn’t even have a question mark character (?)- for texting- Not that I like texting one bit. I am so far behind in all that phone stuff, it is a little embarrassing- for instance-
A couple of weeks ago, I was in the P.T.A. Thrift shop in Pittsboro- in the back, where they have all the electronics- lamps, clocks, computers, keyboards, wires, sockets, switches, remote controls, game controls, etc. etc. A lot of those things look alike to me and some I can’t figure out at all- That particular day, I noticed a small flat black
device about the size and shape of a blackberry phone on the shelf with some remote controls. A phone or a mini ipad? It was fairly beat-up looking. Electronics were on sale that day, so I decided to buy this little do-dad. I walked around the store, kept looking at the object- actually trying to decide if I really wanted to mess with it. It looked like
it has seen better days. I gave it one more look and suddenly it started to zizzle and zazzle, shake, jangle and vib and light up!! The screen turned a ghostly color and the image of a woman with white hair appeared! A banner announced: GRANDMA CALLING!! My knees knocked, my head spun, my heart pounded! A remarkable gadget indeed!
At that point, a forceful hand grabbed the phone and yelled . .”That’s my phone”- “I laid it down over yonder”- A teen age girl, a teen age phone. An old man’s wildest adventure turned out to be just another routine event in the world of hi-tec.
But I am still puzzled- Why would Grandma use a cell phone this time- she usually is content just to frequent my dreams-
N.A. Booko
My Grandma was half Creek Indian. Her mother was a full blooded Creek Indian. To see a pic of my Grandma about 1942, click on the web-link below:
www.mindspring.com/~expectations/grandma2.jpg
www.mindspring.com/~expectations/grandma2.jpg