
Joshua
calls his son in NY and says, "Benny, I have something to tell
you. However, I don't want to discuss it. I'm merely telling
you because you're my oldest child, and I thought
you ought to know. I've made up my mind, I'm divorcing Mama."
The son is shocked, and asks his father to tell him
what happened.
"I don't want to get into it. My mind is made up."
"But Dad,
you just can't decide to divorce Mama just like that after 54 years together.
What happened?"
"It's too painful to talk about it. I only
called because you're my son, and I thought
you should know. I really don't want to get into it anymore than this.
You can
call your sister and tell her. It will spare me the pain."
"But where's Mama? Can I talk to her?"
"No, I don't want
you to say anything to her about it. I haven't told her yet. Believe me it hasn't been easy. I've agonized over it for several days, and I've finally come to a decision. I have an appointment with the lawyer the day after tomorrow."
"Dad, don't
do anything rash. I'm going to take the first flight down. Promise me that
you won't
do anything until I get there."
"Well, all right, I promise. Next week is a holiday. I'll hold off seeing the lawyer until after the holiday meal.
Call your sister in NJ and break the news to her. I just can't bear to talk about it anymore."
A half hour later, Joshua receives a
call from his daughter
who tells him that she and her brother were able to get tickets and that they and the children will be arriving in Florida the day after tomorrow.
"Benny told me that
you don't want to talk about it on the telephone, but promise me that
you won't
do anything until we both get there."
Joshua promises. After hanging up from his daughter, Joshua turns to his wife and says, "
You were right! They're coming, and we don't even have to pay our half of the tickets!"