Wednesday, January 09, 2002
Weddings and Funerals
The Voice of Doom
So I’m considering allowing her to ring through to voicemail when my mother’s caller i.d. pops up from now on. After all it’s bound to be bad news. Usually a death. Can’t blame her though. Ma’s at an age where she’s beginning to think that she knows more dead than alive. But she’s also my conduit to much of the rest of the family, particularly back in Tennessee.
Flight
Like many families did in the post World War II era mine took part in the Great Northern Migration. Consequently, like most modern families, we’re fragmented. Gone are the days where everyone lives in the same neighborhood. We chase opportunity wherever it may lead; out of state if need be.
My parents moved from Jackson, Tennessee to St. Louis, Missouri. I did them one better and moved to Michigan. So I’m twice removed from the goings on back home.
Doctor Missing
My cousin Cherryl bucked the trend; stayed close to home. Moved only an hour and a half away to Memphis. She became a pediatrician and by all accounts, a well respected member of the community.
Sunday night Ma called to tell me that Cherryl has been missing since Friday night; last seen by friends after attending a basketball game. After that nothing, though her car turned up on Monday about 2 miles from her home.
Her home shows no sign of forced entry or foul play of any type. A stub from the game was found on a counter along with some other personal effects – including her insulin. Cherryl is a diabetic who needs regular shots to regulate her blood sugar else she could die.
Just keeps getting worse doesn’t it?
Guilt
I think that the last time I saw Cherryl was about 10 years ago at a wedding in Detroit. If memory serves she caught the attention of every unattached male in the vicinity of the affair. Threatened to upstage the bride for attention. She blithely (and graciously) ignored it all.
I believe the last time I saw anyone from that branch of the family was at my grandmother’s funeral almost 4 years ago.
I’m embarrassed to admit that the latest pictures I’ve seen of Cherryl accompany news articles detailing her disappearance. I’m extremely embarrassed that from their interview comments, the people she works with seem to know more about her than I do. I couldn’t tell you if she’s ever been married. What her religious affiliation might be now or where she went to college. Hell I know that much about my cube mate’s brother.
Blood ought to count for something right? Even across time zones. But her grandfather and my grandfather were brothers and I have to read in the paper that she’s a diabetic.
Somebody better get married real soon.
posted by Barry |
11:05 PM
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