On the Brink of Madness (cond't)

“I don’t understand, she is not even your daughter and you treat her better than your real kids.”

I was stunned. This was my sister. Never in all my life had she ever said anything like that. After all, we had the same mother. But, she stood there, angry, steadfast, as if I had taken the only parent she had left; and she wasn’t having it.

Dad was shocked. “How dare you,” he said. He walked towards her. I became frightened for my sister even though she tried to make me feel bad.

“Beth, let me explain something to you. Lynn is as much my child as you are, and I don’t want to ever hear you say something so stupid again. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, but she……….”

“But she my ass. That is your sister and my daughter and you better not treat her like she’s not. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, I do.”

She walked out of the room huffing and puffing like an angry bull. But she never treated me like that again. I smile now because she lives in Georgia and we talked weekly and she always says,
“I love you” before she hangs up the phone.

So this man that I am speeding to is special. He understands family. He knows how to love you even when you came into his life in a way that may have hurt him.

I look up and I am almost to his house. I wondered what awaits me there. I am a little frightened, but very concerned.

I pick up my cell and dial my mother’s number. They have been divorced for 10 years and are the best of friends. I hear the phone ringing. She picks up on the third ring.

“Mom, I am on the way to Dad’s house. Something is wrong with him.”

“Why do you say that? Did you talk to him? Who called you? What is happening?”

I heard the panic in her voice. “It was the tone in his voice.”

“The tone in his voice? Are you serious? You are driving all the way to his house because of the tone of his voice.”