Miss Sue's Call

Every semester I have "the culture talk" with my students. We define culture, discuss features of American culture, and debate whether cultural changes are positive or negative. "What drives cultural change," I always ask?

Last night, I was surprised to see that the topic inspired many comments about cell phones and social media. Usually, my students consider these a "part of life" and they rarely pause to examine effects, consequences, trade-offs, etc.

Not this class.

I chimed in that just yesterday, I'd learned about the birth of a baby in my family, days after the event, via Facebook. I still find it "strange" to receive birth and death announcements via social media because I am, I guess, old fashioned. I prefer phone calls or, at least, an email when there is a major event.

In reality, I'm left to read about the passing of dear friends in the newspaper, sometimes too late to attend the memorial service or to pay respects. Sometimes I don't catch the story at all.

In reality, I don't see people just "popping in" or "borrowing a cup of sugar" much anymore. How can we be there to help at just the right time if we no longer take the time to visit?

I've often joked that people hesitate to invite us over to dinner because they are intimidated by the quantity of food that my four boys ingest. Or perhaps they are worried about broken chairs or muddy floors from four big football player-farmer boys sitting around the table.

This is why I'm especially grateful for Miss Sue's call.

Miss Sue is a neighbor and fellow church member. I'd tapped her husband on the shoulder a few weeks ago to describe my current situation and ask that he keep an eye on our house and the family. He owns a business that sends trucks out throughout the day and he owns the heavy equipment that we might need during a snowstorm. He agreed without hesitation.

At 9:00 a.m. Monday morning Miss Sue left a beautiful voicemail message for me. "Hi J. Just calling to see how you are doing. Do you need anything? Can we help? Ok. Just checking in."

It really meant a lot to me and I called her back this morning to tell her just that.

I work in an environment where people scratch and bite one another instead of team building. There's rarely a "good morning" or a "how is your day going?" exchanged. When I teach, I am in the one in a leadership/caregiver role.

So at the end of a "three job day" (throw in some orphaned lambs, severe cold weather, and a few energetic school-aged children), those were just the words I needed to HEAR.

Miss Sue's voice speaking my name... "just checking in."