We’ve all received those dreaded phone calls— the ones where the person’s voice on the other end suggests something dire is coming. The greatest example of this for me was the night I got the call that my father had died.
It happened during my senior year of college around 9 p.m. Upon returning from the gym, my roommates informed me that I had received a call from my older brother, who had left instructions to call him back at a specific phone number, which happened to be for my grandmother’s house.
Given the fact that my brother was at my grandmother’s house at such a late hour (which was highly irregular), I quickly surmised that something was amiss. I dutifully picked up the phone, took a deep breath, and dialed the number. When my aunt answered the phone, sounding nervous and agitated, I again assumed the worst about my grandmother.
When my brother got on the phone, the first words out of my mouth were, “How’s Grandma?” The next words I heard were, “Dad’s dead.”
Everything got fuzzy after that. In the moment that my brain processed the words, my body started to tremble. I had been standing in the kitchen of my apartment, and before I realized what was happening, I had collapsed to the floor. This is the only time in my life that I have experienced profound shock.
After I gathered myself and explained the situation to my roommates, I went up to my room and cried.
Over the years, I’ve received similar calls, but none to that level. Even still, the moments tend to plant themselves into your memory — like the night my grandfather died: The call came in, my mother picked up the phone, and all I could hear was my grandmother screaming through the receiver. The next sound I heard was my father running up the stairs and out the door. By the time he got to their house, my grandfather was gone.
I’ve had similar experiences in the last couple years when receiving calls about close friends who had unexpectedly passed away. I’m middle-aged, so death is more expected than it used to be, but I’m not so old that it feels imminent. The calls about my friends were all shocking, each one sending a rush of emotions through me like a strike of lightning.
Of course, the shock of an unexpected death is not always contained to people we know personally. I was moved the moment I heard John Lennon was killed, when Princess Diana had died, and when Michael Jackson passed away. No one expected them to leave so soon, especially given the grandeur of their personas.
Well, another one of these calls came in last week. My wife had phoned me at work, and as soon as I heard her voice, I knew something was off. She wasted little time in explaining that a very dear friend had passed after a tragic accident.
Patty was someone I had known for most of my life. We attended separate high schools, but her popularity meant that she was well-known around our town. After high school, our social circles collided, allowing us to become friends. And when my girlfriend (eventually my wife) moved to town, Patty was the one who took her under her wing and introduced her to her vast friend network.
Before long, the two girls were inseparable. It wasn’t uncommon for Patty to be at our home on any given weeknight and out on the town with us on the weekends.
Due to an out-of-state move, Patty drifted away from our daily lives. Ironically, it was at one of the aforementioned friend’s funerals that my wife was able to reconnect with Patty. The gravity of that event erased years of distance, and the two bonded again, remaining that way until her recent passing.
Patty was one of the kindest, bubbliest, and most upbeat women I have ever known. She had a pureness to her character that is rare among people, and that will truly be missed by all that knew her.
This week’s feature, “M3GAN,” is about a girl with equally pure character. After her parents are killed in a car accident, the girl’s aunt (a brilliant roboticist) decides to pair a next-generation child-like doll with her niece in the hope that it will help heal the devastation of the loss. Instead, the relationship causes unimaginable consequences.
If you’re at all intrigued by the advances in AI and robotics, definitely check this film out. It’s scary on multiple levels, not least of which is the fact that we may be closer to this fiction than we realize. Plus, the next installment in the “M3GAN” series is due for release in a couple of weeks.
A mechanized “B” for “M3GAN,” now available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.
Got a question or comment for Dom? You can email him at [email protected].
