A Telephone Call to Michigan

I missed a call on my phone the other day, and I didn't recognize the number. They didn't leave a message, and since I'm job hunting, Matthew said I should call them back. I think that's awkward...hey, um, did you call me? who is this again? what?

But I noticed that it was a Michigan area code, and one near Traverse City. I have a friend who is a heroin addict that lives with his folks in in the Upper Peninsula. I am often afraid I will get a call from this family saying that he overdosed. So, after deliberation, the next day I call the number back hoping that it's not his Dad that answers.

Nope. It's Camile. She is a woman, living near Grand Rapids, MI actually, and originally from Crystal Lake, IL. She won't tell me how old she is, but I can tell the decade, and that she's a smoker. After we try, but don't figure out how/why she called me, she still wants to chat. So she tells me about her husband, a Chicago cop for 25 years, who wants to retire to a trailer in Florida and does, and who dies in 2004 after they move back up to the Midwest again. She still misses him, but she has great kids who take care of her and look after her every day. She tells me to love my Mom, and call her every day. She asks about siblings, and I tell her I have twin brothers. She seems happy that I talk to at least one of the four of my family every day. I can hear her smiling. She tells me to find love, and to keep it, and to love every minute of every day, because one day it will be gone. She tells me she hopes I am not scared of her, that she's not a creep, and that too many today live in fear. I laugh because she used the word creep, and I tell her it's nice to talk to someone I've never met. After about 35 minutes we hang up. She calls back an hour later and tells me she figured out how our numbers crossed and she says goodbye again.