ElleSpeak

After a quiet moment, that must have seemed like an hour to Candi, the operator responded, “I don’t find a Harry Hugar in Altoona, but there’s a Louis Hugar. Would you like that number?”

Marti answered, “Yes, please.” She hung up and dialed the number and on the third ring a woman answered, “Hello.”

Marti asked, “Is this the residence of Louis Hugar?” The woman answered, “Yes, it is.” Marti said, “I’m looking for a Harry Hugar. Do you know him?”

The woman answered, “Yes, he’s my husband’s brother, but he doesn’t live in Altoona, he lives in Nashville. Would you like that number?”

Marti replied, “So he lives in Nashville? Yes, I’d like his number. That would be great! Thank you!”

As she wrote down the number, and before she could hang up the phone, her three boys were looking at their Mema (Candi) with big saucer-like eyes, saying, “Wow! Our great Grandpa’s a country music star!” Everyone started laughing, all grateful for a little light-heartedness, and then Marti turned and met her mother’s eyes, “So, this is it, Mom. He’s really out there. Are you ready?”

Candi looked around the room and saw faces she knew and loved dearly, faces of people who loved her back, just as dearly as she loved them. These were the people who had always been there for her whenever she needed them, and she had always been there for them, at a moment’s notice. These were the people who would still be there for her after this call was made, who would still love her, no matter what this call might or might not bring into her life, and into theirs…it must have taken her breath away for a moment…because she noticed she wasn’t breathing.

Her breath was on hold…and in some ways she felt that a part of her life had been on hold for years. How many times had she thought about making this call? Until now, she had always decided the time just wasn’t right…maybe next month…maybe next year…maybe never. Behind each of those decisions lurked the overpowering fear of what she might find on the other end of that phone line.

Each time she seriously considered making the call, she wondered how the man who she thought might be her father, would respond to her reaching out to him. Would he acknowledge her as his own? Would he welcome her call or immediately reject her?

If he did welcome her into his life, what exactly did that mean? For all she knew, he could be a con man, a drunk, a thief, a wife beater, a mean son of a bitch, or any number of other evil things! Wouldn’t that just be her luck?!

Really now…was he a good person? Could he be trusted with her heart, and with her precious family? Was she doing the right thing? She decided that she needed to know, one way or the other.

Her breath came back with a start as she looked at Marti, “I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

Marti picked up the phone and handed it to her Mom, but Candi pushed the phone back toward Marti and said, “You talk to him first, please.”

Marti, whose courage always rolled off the tip of her tongue with ease, dialed the Nashville number, and when she heard the male voice on the other end, she leaped right into the deep unknown, and asked, “Is this Harry Hugar?”

The voice on the other end of the line answered, “Yes, it is.”

The words rushed out of Marti’s mouth and flew into Harry’s ear, “Mr. Hugar, my name is Marti and I’m calling you for my Mom. During the war, were you stationed in Amarillo, Texas and did you know a Billye Margaret Chilton?”

Harry answered nervously, “Yes, to both those questions, but why are you asking?”

Marti replied, “We think you might be my mother’s father.”

Brenda was sitting close to Candi and reached out and lightly touched her hand as they both waited for a response from this man in Nashville.

Without hesitating, Harry replied with a question, “Is her name Candi?”

Looking at her Mom and almost shouting into the phone’s mouthpiece, she replied, “Yes, my Mom’s name is Candi!”

Candi’s heart pounded, her mouth fell open, and tears filled her eyes…the eyes of the daughter of the man from Nashville, whose name was Harry.

Candi’s emotions were overwhelming, and the words that lived in her heart weren’t ready yet to make the journey to her mouth…..so Marti and Harry talked together a little longer and ended the call with the promise of more talks in the near future.

A day or so later Marti called Harry again, and this time he asked, “When will I be able to talk to your Mom?”

Candi still wasn’t sure she could trust her mouth to work properly, but she wanted to hear his voice, hoping it might somehow tell her something important about him; so, she was listening in on the extension phone in the other room, and she heard his question to Marti.

She hesitated for only a second, and then, she spoke out loud. She spoke the two words she had imagined saying to him so many times in her life, the two words she had always wanted him to know, for as long as she could remember, “I’m here.”