We Got Our Phones Back!!!

In case I didn't tell you guys this yet, I had a VERY hard time adjusting to leaving Australia and coming back to the United States. I have to say it went way beyond the usual post-holiday blues. What made things even harder for me is my sister went to Australia about a month after we came back. I love my sister. I do. But I was incredibly jealous. The analogy I thought of back then was someone being told their sister was going to sleep with their boyfriend. I know that sounds crazy. What can I say? I was THAT jealous. I actually felt sick about it. It tore me apart.

I did try to be nice about it.

I did try to be mature.

It was a huge struggle, though.

Before they left, my husband offered to let them borrow our phones we bought in Australia. This way they wouldn't have to buy new phones when they got to Australia. This really upset me. I was very emotionally attached to the phones. I had all these text messages from friends. And I don't know. I just didn't want to share my phones. My husband kindly said we could take back our offer. But I said no. We should share. I'm all into sharing because of eco/financial reasons. There's no need to buy new phones just because I have some weird emotional attachment. I also TRY to not become emotionally attached to objects. So, I knew the right thing to do....the thing I HAD to do was let them borrow the phones.

They took the phones.

They returned to America.

We waited to get the phones back.

We didn't get them back.

Then one day, about a month ago, I asked my brother-in-law about the phones. He told me they had already given them back to us. He said they put them in our lake house room. He said they had put them in the mesh bag we had given them.

I remembered them leaving us stuff at the lake house once. They gave us a bag with Tim's scuba license, a knife, and a box of Murray River Salt.

My brother-in-law insisted the phones had been there too, but he said he'd check their electronic stuff to make sure.

I was confused, at first, and questioned my own memory. But then things didn't make sense to me. I was so emotionally attached to those phones. I told Tim that I would have been so excited to get the phones back. I would have wanted to read all my old text messages. I would have noticed the return of those phones. It would have been an emotional occasion for me.

Still, despite all this I questioned myself. A couple other of my memories of recent events have been denied lately. So...yeah. I've had this awful suspicion at times that I'm losing my mind-- forgetting things that have happened and creating events inside my mind that I feel truly happened.

I told my husband about my beliefs--that they didn't give us the phone because I would have remembered it. I would have wanted to turn the phones on so we could read the old messages.

Tim said that's not true. We wouldn't be able to read the messages because we couldn't plug in the phones in the United States. He then said that now that he thought of it, he DID sort of remember us getting the phones back. And he sort of remembered me asking to see the messages, and he had told me he couldn't do it.

I was confused. I thought maybe he was right. I looked around the house, thinking maybe I'd find the phones and realize how wrong I had been.

I couldn't find the phones.

I also didn't hear back from my brother-in-law about his search through their electronic equipment. I didn't want to pester them too much, though, because they're busy with that whole what-to-expect-when-you're-expecting business.

But then tonight Tim was going out on a James Bond movie outing with my two brother-in-laws. I asked him to ask about the phone. He did.

And guess what he came home with tonight!

The phones!

This is wonderful on so many levels

1. It's further prove that, although I'm weird and in love with a country in a way that some women are in love with a man(or woman); I'm not totally insane. I haven't lost my mind or memory.

2. I was right and they were wrong. So ha!

3. We were able to read the old text messages. It was all totally like the Hanukkah miracle. Those damn phones still had juice in them--after all these months. Don't ask me how that works. I saw messages from Tim. I saw messages from my cousin. I saw messages from my friends. It was awesome. My heart is all warm and cozy right now.

4. I can give some of you guys my phone number so you can text or call us when we're in Australia. It might be hard to keep up via the Internet. I'm not going to post my mobile number on a public blog. (of course!) But when we get closer to our leaving time, I'll send a reminder and if you want my number, you can email me.

5. The phones have the ringtone from Medium! I love that ringtone and had asked Tim if we could get it on my phone...the American ones. He said that wasn't possible because we didn't have right service. Well, it ends up that it's on the Australia ones. I wonder if we used those ringtones while we were there, and I didn't realize they were the same ones from Medium. Oh! Maybe the reason I loved the ringtone on Medium so much is my unconscious mind remembered it was what we heard in Australia!

Anyway, this is so awesome. I can pretend I'm Alison Dubois while we're in Australia!

I am so happy right now!

Read my novel: The Dead are Online