Just Texting In

By Amy Coward

My phone whirs on my desk, silently telling me a text message has arrived. “I got a job interview!” it read. Quick. Short. Straight to the point. I would chat with her later on the details. This is the way it works these days. Little touch points throughout the day that keep us connected.

My children are grown and working and even though two live nearby, we all lead busy lives. There’s not much time for visiting or even phone calls during a busy work week. Text messages are the new emails – quick bursts of information that land on your desk to let you know what’s on their mind.

Throughout the course of the week, I get random texts saying “Try this recipe – it’s yum!” Or, “Just leaving the gym…won’t be able to walk tomorrow. I do the same with them – offering news about a special deal on dog grooming, telling them the strawberry fields are open, warning them of bad weather approaching. Sometimes I get questions of how to deal with something – like an insurance claim or a plumbing repair. For parents who were so stupid just a few short years ago, somehow now we know something. Funny how that works.

I can remember a time when I wasn’t exactly glad to hear from my kids. Like when they were out of school for the summer. As a mom who worked outside the home, I used to get calls at work with someone in tears crying, “He ate the last of the potato chips!” Or, “She won’t let me watch my show!” I got the call to resolve the battle, calm the storm, referee the argument day after day after day. It’s no wonder they advertise parents being euphoric when school goes back into session. They are.

And then there were the days when they had gone off to college and every call meant they needed money. I often held my breath when I answered the phone waiting for the amount to be revealed. Was it a fender bender? Extra books for a class? A broken laptop? Regardless of the reason, I knew my checkbook was going to take a hit.

But those days are long gone and as three independent adults, my kids have little to squabble about now. And they seldom need my help. Really.

Now when the phone stirs on my desk, I check in to see what’s going on, to see if I need to answer. “When are we going to the beach this summer?” Or, “Did you see that crazy story on the news?” It’s nice to know they’re thinking of me, that I’m on their mind, if only for a minute. And who knows? They might have a good recipe idea for dinner.

Amy Coward is a public relations professional in Columbia, SC. When she is not managing the madness of event planning at Palmetto Health Foundation, she is turning her empty nest upside down looking for fun and finding it. 

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