≡ Menu

How Zombies Reminded Me to Write My Grandma

The truth has a funny way of revealing itself.  Sometimes it reaches out and bitch slaps you in the face.  Sometimes it sneaks up on you gradually, a bit at a time.  And sometimes it just sits there, quietly waiting to be discovered.

I was at work a couple days ago, and the night was winding down.  The last bits of the gear were being loaded into the truck, audio equipment was being returned to the shop, and I was charged with mopping the stage.  Not my favorite activity.  No one’s favorite activity.  But today the task was mine, so (begrudgingly) I set at it.

While I was waiting for the mop bucket to fill, I pulled my iPod Touch out of my zip-up’s pocket to continue my current Plants v Zombies battle.  Yeah, I had only 3, maybe 4 minutes before the bucket was full, but this was a really important battle!  I’d accidentally started a level with Zamboni zombies without any jalapeño peppers, I had to know how it ended!

When I turned the screen on, I saw that bumping and reaching in my pocket had brought up the To Do list app.  I haven’t used that app since I got my HTC Incredible almost a year ago, and curiously I read some of the items on the list.  We’d clearly been getting ready to move last time I used the list; task after task, each important things to make sure I accomplished, each followed by a check-mark indicating completion.  But at the top of the list was a single incomplete item:

Write letter to Grandma Dietrich.

I’m not quite sure why I felt that this task warranted a spot on my To Do list.  Maybe I’d just received one of her sweet holiday cards, and wanted to make sure that she knew that they were appreciated.  Maybe I’d just spread one of her beautiful handmade quilts on our bed.  Or maybe I’d just made a peach cobbler using her amazing recipe.  I don’t know.  But for whatever reason, I felt that I needed to write a letter to my grandma, and I felt that it was important enough to add it my to do list.  And yet, as important as this task was, it never got done.

We all have ideas about the way things will go, in our personal lives, in our careers, in our families, in our aspirations.  We all make promises to ourselves, both big and small.  Some happen, and some don’t.  Sometimes these promises are broken consciously due to a change in circumstances or desires, but more often they’re broken simply because they’re forgotten.  As life piles up in our minds, those small promises are pushed further and further back into our minds, until they finally slip away.

I can only imagine how many of my life’s little promises have faded into the recesses of my mind and forgotten forever.  But serendipity fished this one back out, and I won’t let to disappear again.  Grandma, I don’t know if you read this, but if you do, watch your mail box.

There’s a letter coming.

{ 4 comments… add one }
  • Camels & Chocolate October 18, 2010, 11:45 am

    Scott’s been wanting an iPod Touch like nobody’s business and once he reads that he can play a game called Plants v Zombies, I’m sure it will be a matter of minutes before he finds his way to the Apple store.

    Holy crap, that game is crazy addicting! I’ve finished it twice and I still keep playing!

  • Charm City Kim October 19, 2010, 11:47 am

    Did you tell your Grandma how you remembered to write to her?

    Btw – I love that you had it down as a task. I have a sadder story about how I totally intended to write my Grandmother a letter (and sadly, I typed it up! But it was a frickin’ novel and was going to include a picture montage of things). I completely forgot about it… and then she died. As I was cleaning out files in my computer, I stumbled across the letter I had typed and cried.

    Wow – that was a bummer of a story. Sorry about that!

  • patience October 19, 2010, 11:17 pm

    i def did not spend enough time with my grandparents as i got older, they were a major part of my childhood when we moved back to NY…we even lived with them for some time, so they were there for me and my siblings. so i can relate. life comes hard and fast and suddenly it is now. it can be like that sometimes. peace

  • thebarmaiden October 26, 2010, 8:21 pm

    Oh, this just totally made me cry. And then download that Plant v. Zombie game.

    I used to write a letter to my Grandma every week – I miss doing that.

Leave a Comment

Next post:

Previous post: