beeep… “Hey, honey. I’m on my way to see Grandma. I’m glad I decided to come up here, I’m sorta worried… When I called her just now, she told me how they just got back from visiting Rome and Paris and London, the Grand Canyon, and… I’m just—I’m almost there… I’ll let you know how it goes… Love you.”
***
“Mom… Are you okay?…”
“Hi, honey!
I’ve had such a great day!
We went to London and—”
“I know, Mom… but…”
“Hellooo… How are we today?”
“Fine. I’m just a little concerned…”
“Right! I overheard.
I wanted to specify… she’s not wrong!
We have these headsets! They’re VR…
virtual—”
“I know what it means…
Wow… this makes so much more sense…”
“Sorry about that, I know.
I’m sure it was a little, like, ‘Ahhh!…’
But, yeah, no…
She’s been here the whole time —
she had a blast!
They all did.”
“We went to London and—”
“I know, Mom…
That… sounds like a lot of fun…”
“It was sorta cute, I asked her friend Janice
[the volunteer pointed to the right — to Barbra;
Barbra often thinks her name is Janice],
‘If you could go anywhere in the world,
where would you go?’
She took her time
and really thought about it,
then confidently replied,
‘Costco.’”