Running the Family Loop from a distance
You were in another country when your father had the fall. Eight time zones away. By the time you woke up, the medical team had already made morning rounds and the conversation you needed to be part of had happened without you. By the time you were available to call, the people with current information were leaving for the day.
The Call at the Worst Possible Time
Your uncle called at noon every day. You were in the middle of a conversation with the discharge coordinator when he called back a second time. You answered. Four minutes later you returned to find the coordinator had been pulled away. You waited twenty minutes to resume a conversation that had already taken three attempts to complete. He had asked how your father was doing.