It’s the phone call no grandparent wants to get.
It is a beloved grandson, or granddaughter, calling from a hospital, or from jail. There’s been an accident, a sudden illness, or an unfortunate misunderstanding.
They need money for medical bills or for bail, and they need it now.
Help me grandpa or grandma, they plead. Help me.
Their voice doesn’t sound quite right, but they have an explanation for this, they suffered damage to their throat or a broken nose in the accident.
Sometimes they’ll have someone else speak for them. An attorney, perhaps, or a bail bondsman.
Your grandchild may have been detained as a result of the wreck, facing criminal charges, and are being put in a cell with drunks and drug addicts.
I need your credit card information, they say, or your checking account number, or a certain amount of money in gift cards. Or maybe you could just wire some money, could you please? If not, they whine, they just don’t know what they will do.
Can I count on you grandpa, or grandma?
What grandparent receiving such a call wouldn’t feel compelled to help, to try and fix a dire situation?
I received such a call recently. Hello, I said. Hello grandpa, came the voice on the other end of the line.
I asked them to repeat themselves. Hello grandpa, they replied.
I hung up. I wish now I would have…
