Thus read the subject line of an e-mail I received Monday from Luke. I’m accustomed to opening my inbox and finding e-mails with ominous subject lines from my son. “You may not like this, but . . .” That sort of thing. I always take a deep breath and say a little prayer before reading them. With Luke, you just never know. It could be anything.
This time I knew he’d written from Ireland, so the stakes were higher. Deep breath. Prayer. I opened the e-mail and read:
dear momzy, it came to my attention today that my Visa card is missing. if you would be a love and cancel it with the company, i would be most obliged. i have checked through all my effects and it isn’t there so i don’t know what happened to it.
ireland is lovely, . . .
And so he continues. You can almost hear the carefree lilt of his voice speaking these words. I’ve always said that Luke will never suffer from ulcers or high blood pressure. As much as he tries to project a phlegmatic, angsty artist image, the truth is his glass automatically refills itself long before he ever gets it anywhere close to half empty. Let’s face it folks, the guy skips. (You know you do, Luke. And it’s okay to be a happy artist. I promise.)
Yeah, so, back to the e-mail. Slight problem. I couldn’t be a love and cancel the card, because Grace is using the same Visa account, and she’ll be traveling all over Europe until September 27. She has an ATM card, too, but no other credit cards that are accepted overseas.
I called the company and asked for a listing of recent transactions–particularly the ones in Ireland. The operator said the last charge had been posted two days before Luke missed his card, to a store called Magnetic Music. This was very encouraging news, because that’s exactly the sort of store that would attract Luke. (heh. magnetic. okay, sorry.) In fact, when I check my statements every month, any mysterious charges from businesses selling music, books, or art supplies, I immediately chalk up as legitimate Luke purchases.
I e-mailed Luke and asked him to call the store and see if he left his card. Long story shorter: he e-mailed the store, they responded confirming they had it, and they’re snail mailing the card to me. As Inspector Clouseau would say, “The case is sol-ved.” In this case I would add, “And a major hassle averted.” Hallelujah.
Right now I’m thanking God for honest, music-loving Irishmen. And, as much as I’d love to say Luke learned a valuable lesson from this, I realize that I’ve learned a lot over the years from my son. Fretting accomplishes nothing. It’s much better to pray, trust, do whatcha gotta do, and then go back to enjoying the loveliness all around you. Oh, yeah–and while you’re at it, don’t forget to skip.
Yanno, they say that one of the great things about Ronald Reagan’s speeches, was that he always left things on a high note. He could say: Things are bad, abyssmal in fact, and go on and on, but at the end he’d ramp it up. Like But we’re Americans, and when things are at their worst, we’re at our best. We’re good people, and with faith in God and some hard work, we’ll pull out of this and come out better than before, and you’d go off thinking, man, things are just spiffy! Now then, I’m gonna find someone to sew my leg back on.
The long and short … (OK, so it’s too late for the short), I guess the important thing is how you end things. 🙂
Quite the optimist you’re raising there. 😉 The world could use a a whole lot more of ’em!
OH, you’re GOOD. Since the Master’s many long years ago, bestowed upon me the rank of Pun Master, I have never met my equal … Until now. I think you would make a worthy opponent.
Yanno, they say that one of the great things about Ronald Reagan’s speeches, was that he always left things on a high note. He could say: Things are bad, abyssmal in fact, and go on and on, but at the end he’d ramp it up. Like But we’re Americans, and when things are at their worst, we’re at our best. We’re good people, and with faith in God and some hard work, we’ll pull out of this and come out better than before, and you’d go off thinking, man, things are just spiffy! Now then, I’m gonna find someone to sew my leg back on.
The long and short … (OK, so it’s too late for the short), I guess the important thing is how you end things. 🙂
Quite the optimist you’re raising there. 😉 The world could use a a whole lot more of ’em!
OH, you’re GOOD. Since the Master’s many long years ago, bestowed upon me the rank of Pun Master, I have never met my equal … Until now. I think you would make a worthy opponent.
Yanno, they say that one of the great things about Ronald Reagan’s speeches, was that he always left things on a high note. He could say: Things are bad, abyssmal in fact, and go on and on, but at the end he’d ramp it up. Like But we’re Americans, and when things are at their worst, we’re at our best. We’re good people, and with faith in God and some hard work, we’ll pull out of this and come out better than before, and you’d go off thinking, man, things are just spiffy! Now then, I’m gonna find someone to sew my leg back on.
The long and short … (OK, so it’s too late for the short), I guess the important thing is how you end things. 🙂
Quite the optimist you’re raising there. 😉 The world could use a a whole lot more of ’em!
OH, you’re GOOD. Since the Master’s many long years ago, bestowed upon me the rank of Pun Master, I have never met my equal … Until now. I think you would make a worthy opponent.
Yes…
…that would be Luke.
Meanwhile, those lucky two. Ireland! England!
Isn’t it wonderful?
Yes…
…that would be Luke.
Meanwhile, those lucky two. Ireland! England!
Isn’t it wonderful?
Yes…
…that would be Luke.
Meanwhile, those lucky two. Ireland! England!
Isn’t it wonderful?
A Wee Bit Unfortunate, Indeed…
I wish my youngest son prefaced his comments with “it’s a bit unfortunate…” Then I’d have time to catch my breath before he delivers the news.
I finally saw the dear lad, recently returned from a missions trip in the Watts district of LA. He met Doug and me for a fabulous lunch at the hospital cafeteria–my current idea of a fine dining experience.
“So tell me about your trip,” I said.
“It was great! I almost fell off a mountain!”
“OK, Kev…umm…maybe I should have a few bites of protein before you go any further…”
“And the next day we jumped off cliffs near the Grand Canyon and I got hypothermia so bad I barely made it back to the…”
“Really, if you’ll just give me a second to get my head on straight–“
“But the dehydration the day after that was the worst. Ben and I had to carry Josh a couple of miles to the car and then drive him to the hospital, which was hard since we’d run out of water three hours earlier and it was 105 degrees…”
You get the idea. Sheesh. 🙂
Much love! Katy Raymond
A Wee Bit Unfortunate, Indeed…
I wish my youngest son prefaced his comments with “it’s a bit unfortunate…” Then I’d have time to catch my breath before he delivers the news.
I finally saw the dear lad, recently returned from a missions trip in the Watts district of LA. He met Doug and me for a fabulous lunch at the hospital cafeteria–my current idea of a fine dining experience.
“So tell me about your trip,” I said.
“It was great! I almost fell off a mountain!”
“OK, Kev…umm…maybe I should have a few bites of protein before you go any further…”
“And the next day we jumped off cliffs near the Grand Canyon and I got hypothermia so bad I barely made it back to the…”
“Really, if you’ll just give me a second to get my head on straight–“
“But the dehydration the day after that was the worst. Ben and I had to carry Josh a couple of miles to the car and then drive him to the hospital, which was hard since we’d run out of water three hours earlier and it was 105 degrees…”
You get the idea. Sheesh. 🙂
Much love! Katy Raymond
A Wee Bit Unfortunate, Indeed…
I wish my youngest son prefaced his comments with “it’s a bit unfortunate…” Then I’d have time to catch my breath before he delivers the news.
I finally saw the dear lad, recently returned from a missions trip in the Watts district of LA. He met Doug and me for a fabulous lunch at the hospital cafeteria–my current idea of a fine dining experience.
“So tell me about your trip,” I said.
“It was great! I almost fell off a mountain!”
“OK, Kev…umm…maybe I should have a few bites of protein before you go any further…”
“And the next day we jumped off cliffs near the Grand Canyon and I got hypothermia so bad I barely made it back to the…”
“Really, if you’ll just give me a second to get my head on straight–“
“But the dehydration the day after that was the worst. Ben and I had to carry Josh a couple of miles to the car and then drive him to the hospital, which was hard since we’d run out of water three hours earlier and it was 105 degrees…”
You get the idea. Sheesh. 🙂
Much love! Katy Raymond
its a bit hairy…
but i have a beard. i just thought i should warn you.
love,
your son
its a bit hairy…
but i have a beard. i just thought i should warn you.
love,
your son
its a bit hairy…
but i have a beard. i just thought i should warn you.
love,
your son
Oh, you!
Good one. 😉
I love you mucho muchly. Mz
Oh, you!
Good one. 😉
I love you mucho muchly. Mz
Oh, you!
Good one. 😉
I love you mucho muchly. Mz
Re: A Wee Bit Unfortunate, Indeed…
My goodness! Kev and Luke would make dandy travel companions, eh? Angels, Katy. I always remind myself about the angels. 🙂
Love, Jeanne
P.S. Hospital cafeteria fine dining! I love your sense of humor. ♥
Re: A Wee Bit Unfortunate, Indeed…
My goodness! Kev and Luke would make dandy travel companions, eh? Angels, Katy. I always remind myself about the angels. 🙂
Love, Jeanne
P.S. Hospital cafeteria fine dining! I love your sense of humor. ♥
Re: A Wee Bit Unfortunate, Indeed…
My goodness! Kev and Luke would make dandy travel companions, eh? Angels, Katy. I always remind myself about the angels. 🙂
Love, Jeanne
P.S. Hospital cafeteria fine dining! I love your sense of humor. ♥
Re: A Wee Bit Unfortunate, Indeed…
Oh, Jeanne, I’m ALL about the angels! I don’t even object to patron saints. 🙂
Katy
Re: A Wee Bit Unfortunate, Indeed…
Oh, Jeanne, I’m ALL about the angels! I don’t even object to patron saints. 🙂
Katy
Re: A Wee Bit Unfortunate, Indeed…
Oh, Jeanne, I’m ALL about the angels! I don’t even object to patron saints. 🙂
Katy
I agree Luke’s optimism is refreshing. Of course, there are times when I think he’s too laid back for his own good, but I’ve given up lecturing him about it. When he missed the registration deadline for classes his second semester at Wheaton (“Oh, really? I was already supposed to register? I never got an e-mail about it . . .”), I panicked. He said, “Don’t worry. Everything will work out.” Then he waltzed into the admin building, smiled and said, “I missed registration. What do I need to do?” and they sorted it all out for him.
Yeah. He’ll never have ulcers, but I’ve got this weird tic . . .
Thanks for liking my pun. You’re generous. 🙂
I agree Luke’s optimism is refreshing. Of course, there are times when I think he’s too laid back for his own good, but I’ve given up lecturing him about it. When he missed the registration deadline for classes his second semester at Wheaton (“Oh, really? I was already supposed to register? I never got an e-mail about it . . .”), I panicked. He said, “Don’t worry. Everything will work out.” Then he waltzed into the admin building, smiled and said, “I missed registration. What do I need to do?” and they sorted it all out for him.
Yeah. He’ll never have ulcers, but I’ve got this weird tic . . .
Thanks for liking my pun. You’re generous. 🙂
I agree Luke’s optimism is refreshing. Of course, there are times when I think he’s too laid back for his own good, but I’ve given up lecturing him about it. When he missed the registration deadline for classes his second semester at Wheaton (“Oh, really? I was already supposed to register? I never got an e-mail about it . . .”), I panicked. He said, “Don’t worry. Everything will work out.” Then he waltzed into the admin building, smiled and said, “I missed registration. What do I need to do?” and they sorted it all out for him.
Yeah. He’ll never have ulcers, but I’ve got this weird tic . . .
Thanks for liking my pun. You’re generous. 🙂
Re: Yes…
Wonderful is right! I keep reminding myself that I’m thrilled for them so I won’t remember to be jealous. 🙂
Nice to hear from you! What’s on your slate for the fall?
Re: Yes…
Wonderful is right! I keep reminding myself that I’m thrilled for them so I won’t remember to be jealous. 🙂
Nice to hear from you! What’s on your slate for the fall?
Re: Yes…
Wonderful is right! I keep reminding myself that I’m thrilled for them so I won’t remember to be jealous. 🙂
Nice to hear from you! What’s on your slate for the fall?