November 24, 2017
Hans called twice yesterday. The first call was typical for him. He spent a lot of time describing how much his job has sucked during the last couple days. It’s a family tradition for people to complain about their work. He talked about his motorcycle. He told me that the massacre in Las Vegas was really a conspiracy, and that there had been a second shooter. He bitched about all those lazy, entitled Millennials. The call was more of a monologue than a conversation.
A couple hours later, Hans called again.
“Hey Dad, I got a question for you”, Hans said in his Texas drawl.
That made me wary. “What’s up?”
“What would you and Mom say if I asked Gabi to marry me?”
“I’m okay with that. It sounds cool. When are you going to ask her?”
Hans replied, “I already did.”
“So, what did she say?”
“At first she thought I was joking, but then she said ‘yes’ “.
“Well, good. I’ll let Mom know.”
Hans said sheepishly, “I didn’t have a ring or anything.”
“That’s okay. When I talked to Mom, I didn’t either.”
Hans went on, “I wasn’t sure at first, because we haven’t been together very long.”
“Well, Mom and I were only dating for maybe six months or so when I asked her.”
“Gabi and me, we’ve been together for about five months.”
“You’re good.”
Hans said, “It just felt right, you know?”
“Yeah, you got to follow your heart.”
Hans slowly said, “Wellll, I was just calling to find out what you would think. I was just checking.”
“When are you going to do this?”
“Some time next year.”
“Mom and I will come, if you want us to.”
Hans snorted, “Of course, I want you to come!”
I replied, “I was just checking.”
“Yeah, right. Well, I just called to let you know.”
“Congratulations, Hans.”
“Thanks. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Frank is Emptiness 