HOME BUT NOT AWAY

Just spoke to Peg, now sharing a "lovely room" with Odd at Laurel Lake, the "best in the place, they just painted it". 

I feel I should check in with them every day. It would be, yes,  easy, very, not to mention enjoyable, to have got off the plane yesterday in England and said Right! Home now! Sure hope the 'rents manage without me! 

But everything that happens with them or their house or their finances or staff still is my problem, whether I'm down the road or three thousand miles away. (Which is one of the more serious drawbacks of making oneself indispensible, let this be a lesson: never volunteer to do anything good for anyone anywhere, ever.) I may have put Plan A in place, see, but I still need to be able to launch Plan B or C or God forbid Z at a minute's notice. Very simply, there will be no getting away from it, any of it, until they die, or I do, or I change my address and phone number. 

"Hi, Mama. It's me."
"Hi! [SOUNDING PLEASED] Who is it?"
"ME. Your daughter. How many other people call you 'Mama'?"
"Listen. [LOWERS VOICE] Something's going on here."
"What do you mean? Are you ok? Is Daddy ok?"
"Yes yes yes but-- [EVEN LOWER VOICE] I can't talk about it now. I'll tell you later."
"Are you being mistreated?"
"No no, there is just something very very peculiar going on here..."

Thats all I've got to go on, she started talking to whomever was bringing in Odd's quiche that she didn't know whether to wake him for. So I can now have a peaceful night thinking about THE CRUEL EVIL AND VINDICTIVE STAFF AT LAUREL LAKE only to find out tomorrow or next week or whenever she remembers she was upset that it was all about no crackers with the soup or something equally heartless.
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