A stranger at a laundromat in Tulsa told me I was speaking to my mom wrong, and I still hear it 4 months later
It was a random Tuesday night in Tulsa, maybe 11pm, and I was on the phone with my mom while folding towels at a laundromat on 11th Street. Some older guy two machines over heard me say 'yeah I gotta go' for the third time in 6 minutes, and after I hung up he just looked at me and said, 'Son, my mother passed in 2019 and I would give anything for one more rambling call.' I sat there with a half folded towel in my lap and didn't say a word back because nothing felt right to say. Now every time I catch myself rushing her off the phone I think about that guy and his laundry basket and how I never even got his name. Has anyone else had a total stranger drop something on you like that and it just lives in your head rent free?
Did you ever try writing his words down somewhere you'd see them? I started leaving my mom a voicemail just to say hi once a week, no rush, and it fixed the whole rushed goodbye thing for me.