call me

"Call me." Two very simple words, but an endless possibility of meanings and feelings that they can illicit. If it is written on a cocktail napkin with a phone number and slid across a bar by a cute guy, cue the butterflies in your stomach! If it is left in a cheery, quick voicemail from your bff, you make sure to return the call at your earliest convenience. If your boss leaves you that message you might grow a little nervous that you did something wrong, or be irritated at the micro-managing that is about to ensue...
Today I received a text message that said "Call me." It was sent by my cousin, lovingly called Toots. (Different from my lovee, La, that I got to spend time with last night.) So, up until today, I didn't even think Toots had texting. Toots is the mom of my pseudo-nephew, KM. Remember, only child...My cousins and their kids are my WORLD! So when I get a text message from her saying "call me," my heart sank a little. Was KM okay? Did something happen with her job? Was there bad news? And I don't know why I immediately jumped to the negative, but I did. I began wondering if my boss would let me leave early, calculating how long it would take me to get to KM's daycare if I needed to get him, thinking about how much money I had in savings...I definitely was preparing for the worst as I called her back. And of course, she doesn't answer her cell...So I take the next option and call her work phone. A girl at work answers and says that she is still at lunch. And now I am thinking car accident! I decide to try her cell one more time and she answers. It turns out...
She accidentally sent her entire phone book the same text that she had intended for her husband...I could not have been more relieved! See, she never text messages (and now she claims that this is the reason why she doesn't!) And so, the one time she does, this happens. However, something fantastic and wonderful came from this comedy of errors. She sent this text message completely on accident, simply "call me." And in minutes, call we all did.
Her phone was ringing off the hook. Text messages flying in. Her work phone taking the calls from people in the same frame of mind as myself. Some of us were concerned. Others simply just thought she wanted them to give her a call when they had a sec. But nearly everyone got back to her. Out of support. Out of concern. Out of friendship. Out of love. Without even intending to, Toots had a reminder of just how many people in this world love her and are a simple phone call (or accidental text) away!
As I continue to grow as an adult, I look at the "company that I keep." I try to surround myself with positive, loving people who have my back and whose back I have in return. People to whom I am fiercely loyal and enjoy that same loyalty from. And people who I know will call me when I ask. We all have those friends who are your friend when it is convenient, or when they break up with their boyfriend, or when you have tickets to an event. But when the rubber hits the road and life starts happening, they are suddenly not around. Life is about those "call me" friends. The people that love you, fiercely and without condition. Think about those "call me" people that you have in your life. And maybe give them a call. Or a text ;o).