It involves aliens. You know how I feel about them.
Vivie
Like you want them to come and take you back to your home planet?
Vivie adds seven laughing face emojis to her last question. Our mother was in Arizona for a spa week nearly thirty years ago, when the Phoenix Light UFO sighting happened. It waspurportedly the largest sighting in the history of the world, witnessed by tens of thousands of people. Our mom claims to be one of them.
It’s not that I don’t believe in life on other planets, I just have a hard time believing more intelligent life would bother visiting us. And if they can get here, there’s no doubt they’re more intelligent.
Mom, on the other hand, is sure theotherworldliesare watching and are ready to intervene when we screw things up too badly. When she saw the Phoenix lights, she claimed to have experienced a sensation of peace, like never before. Which, if you ask me, is not a normal reaction to seeing the outline of the football field-sized spaceship in the sky. Either way, she’s been all about the aliens ever since.
Mom
Laugh if you want, Vivienne, but Kurt Russell saw them, too. He was the pilot who first called the sighting in.
Vivie
Well, then, that makes it totally credible.
Mom
The universe is big, Vivienne. Don’t doubt what’s out there.
Dad
The aliens can find your mother in Wisconsin. We’ll be there, Tommy.
My parents have a great partnership, and as a rule, neither of them tells the other what to do. Having said that, when something is important to one of them, the other always goes along for the ride. My dad has just declared the importance ofcoming to see me. That’s why I’m not surprised by my mom’s response.
Mom
Fine. But I won’t be eating any cheese.
Me
You might be sorry. They have something called cheese curds here that are surprisingly good.
Mom
I know what cheese curds are, Thomas. I’ve been to Canada.
On that note, I sign off with my family. Texting with them makes me sad we won’t be having supper together on Sunday. But the good news is they’ll be in Wisconsin soon, and I’ll still get my fix.
Before heading off to bed, I quickly check my other texts. Other than two from my colleagues in New York, there’s one from Constance.
Constance
I emailed you the information about our Spring Fling. Please let me know as soon as you can if we will be attending together.
Me
Thank you for sending the information. I won’t be able to go with you, but I will look forward to seeing you there.
Not.
Constance reads the message but doesn’t answer right away. Instead, the ellipses come and go several times like she’s trying to figure out how to respond. She ultimately winds up with:
Constance
