Friday, October 26, 2007

The Phone call

I assigned my sister a sprightly ringtone when I set up my phone book. When I hear the tune, I know it's her.

The first time she called me in the middle of a week, instead of "our" time on a Sunday afternoon, she'd been in an awful car wreck that totalled her minivan. Sue and her son were OK, thank God.

When the phone rang today I thought "Uh, oh." I was right. She was OK, her husband, kids, and pets are OK, but our brother accidentally shot himself this morning.

Cole's the kind of guy who always happens to carry around a loaded gun. Sue yelled at him once for trying to take a gun into Grandma's nursing home. Today, he had the safety off and the gun in his pocket. He was trying to unlock a door and - oops.

My first, selfish, thought was "It could only happen in my life." I want a boring life with minimal drama and stable emotions. I never get it, it seems.

Good news, it was an accident. He made it into surgery. His on-again-off-again girlfriend is with him. He has friends who can care for his pets.

I hope he makes it. He may be a swamp-residing gun-collecting survivalist but he's my brother. Take care of him, Lord.

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