From: Alarming; To: Alarmed

Sent: 07 February 2004 20:46:58
Subject: Injured

Yesterday your mother got blown off some rocks by a strong gust of wind, and she has managed to cut her head open and bruise various other bits of her body.

...

Speak to you later in the week. Love,
N. and Mum

I am alarmed. Alarmed, not worried. I got told not to worry, and I've been brought up well to a life of travel. I go away without my parents, they go away without me, we are all well trained at not worrying. It doesn't come very naturally to any of us anyway, this pointless anxiety thing, and I like to think that we all have a comfortable state of understanding based on plenty of experience. Indeed, it is one of the very few issues of the family dynamic that I think we'd all agree on.

Look, I've been lots of places.

That's supposed to be 30 countries and 13% of the world, although I feel Russia makes it look far more impressive than it really should. Getting all that shading just for one weekend in New York also seems like cheating a bit.

Note, however, that New Zealand is not on the list. Am bitter. This is the third time my parents have been there without me, despite very pointed comments on my part. They said before they went this time that this was the last visit. They love the wine, the food, the amazing landscape and so much more, but it's time to stop going back to the same place each year. So I've missed my shot for doing the country in luxury hotels. My only hope now is that they act out their hazy notions of emigrating there.

I want to go to New Zealand. I want to be in New Zealand right now, making sure my mother isn't lying in shattered pieces.

I'm alarmed. Not worried. The fact that I'm sitting here with this vague email that makes "rocks" sound far more like "cliff" is not affecting me in the least. Nope, not at all. If it was some random person it might even be vaguely comic. But this is my mother, damnit, and it is most definitely not funny.

This is so typical of them.

I want to throw shoes at something.