The Sounds of Whimpers...

Tonight my ex mother in law called. She has not called since that time several months ago that I asked her to never call my home again. She's worried, very worried, in fact. She has not talked to her son in a week. She was hoping to have comfort in knowing that at least my children or I had. We have not. I hadn't much thought about it but he hasn't called since last Wednesday night. I know he has a new baby, I figured he'd been busy but it isn't like him to forget to call them. They are crying now because they had to go to bed without knowing if he is okay or not. They left a message for him to call almost 2 hours ago. His home phone was cut off before this even happened. They can only call him through his cell. I emailed his pager. It's a little scary. On one hand do I assure them that he is indeed fine? This does little to comfort them because this, to them, means he does not care, that he has forgotten them for several days now because he is too busy with his other child. Children rarely understand the concept of being busy not meaning that you don't care. If he is not okay, this doesn't comfort them either, then they worry about losing, or having lost their father. I have called a few jails and a couple of hospitals. The truth is, the area he travels is too large for me to know for sure if lack of locating him, means he is okay. It's also scary that I had to call jails because of a serious concern that he might be there. There was a time when a hospital would have been my sole concern. My children cry, the only comfort I may offer is that I am here. I wish I knew that was enough.