The Call
Upstate
Dinner with Sis and Rollie
He retired early – stomach ache
My hug couldn’t reach around his girth.
The phone rang at 4am
Mom: “Wake up, Rollie’s at Lourdes.”
Flying down the highway…
Too late. Gone at 36.
© 2012 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Rest in peace, Rollie. Brother-in-law, Father, Prankster, Friend
For Trifecta: Poem in 33 words plus the phrase: “The phone rang at 4am”
Also at my kindred spirits’ lair, Poets United.
Sharp Little Pencil 
brian miller
oh man….sorry for your loss…amazing how it happens so fast…a stomach ache and then….
Sharp Little Pencil
Yeah… an embolism in his lung. No possible way of predicting, and he’d just had a physical. Two sons, aged 4 and 1… and my sister raised them on her own. Thanks, Brian…
Amanda
Oh! “Too late” hurts my heart. Well written!
Sharp Little Pencil
Mine, too. Peace, Amanda. Amy
Tara R.
So young. I cannot imagine such a loss.
Sharp Little Pencil
My sister raised two young boys on her own. She had a hard time for years…
AudreyHowitt
Great job with this prompt!
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Audrey. Sad but true. Peace, Amy
karen
Ouch. That is the reason why it is always terrifying when the phone rings between the hours of 11 pm and 8 am.
Funny thing for us is that we do get the occasional overseas call, and never for any reason other than the person is not good at timezones (like myself). But I still dread answering that call.
Sorry for your family’s loss.
Sharp Little Pencil
It was about 25 years ago, but seeing my sister at the other end of the ER being held up by his parents still haunts me. His sons are grown and on their own now, but it can’t have been easy for them… A
kaykuala
Gosh Amy! It sounds so mechanical! Youngish at 36, pity! Morbid but hilarious!
Hank
Sharp Little Pencil
Hank, wasn’t intended to be funny, but then, maybe you read something into it I didn’t… hey, it’s all in the interpretation. Peace, Amy
MiskMask
I hate those phone calls that come in the middle of night…. This one really catches the mood, Amy. Short and point.
Sharp Little Pencil
Had to be exactly that many words. And the brevity (for which I am not very well known) actually connected with the immediacy of the subject. Thanks, M. Amy
trifectawriting
Thanks so much for linking up to Trifextra. Remember, this weekend’s entries are being judged by the Trifecta community, so make sure you visit the site at the close of the challenge to vote. Our linking service will not allow you to vote for a link from the same computer where it was submitted, so plan ahead! Voting closes 12 hours after the close of the challenge. Winners will be announced with the Monday post. Hope to see you back then.
Sharp Little Pencil
I’ll be participating on Fridays, thanks! A
oncealibrarian
A great one. Or should I say, another great one.
Sharp Little Pencil
(Blush) Thanks, Librarian! Amy
jesterqueen
The stomach aches that turn out to be so much more. My grandmother’s massive and nearly fatal heart attack was presaged by just such nausea. She survived that, but it debilitated her, and she ultimately died only a few years later.
Sharp Little Pencil
No matter what the age, you’re never ready for a loved one’s death, right? It knocks the breath right out of you… Amy
Renee Espriu
A difficult chain of events and one I’ve seen over and over again in life. Well written, Amy.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks so much, Renee. I resolved to have a baby after the loss of Rollie and was pregnant by the end of that year. Time is too short. Might have put it off and gotten a different soul for my womb than Riley, so at least that was a blessing, in a horrible disguise…
Nicole Leigh Shaw/Ninja Mom
So sad. I hate seeing people I love head toward illness.
Sharp Little Pencil
The weird part is, other than his ping-pong weight loss/gain, he had no other symptoms. It could not have been predicted, nor prevented. An embolism in his lung, and he was gone before he slammed back into the pillow… Thanks, Nicole. Peace, Amy
fghart
Tragic! So sad. Good job with this week’s prompt. I’ll watch the pasta tonight.
Sharp Little Pencil
Gotcha on the pasta. And yes, this was a heartbreak for so many. They had to call the police to manage the funeral home traffic; he had so many friends, as did my sister… peace, Amy
Madeleine Begun Kane
So sad, but so well written. Sorry!
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Madeleine. Yeah, not a good subject for a limerick, either. (Rollie would have laughed at that comment. He was a joke a minute! He is also the first person to recite “There once was a man from Nantucket” to me… hee hee)
Lindy Lee
Sometimes it happens so quickly. We are never really ready but certainly not at 36…