A Moment of Panic

This past Friday afternoon Mariam, my youngest daughter, went to stay with her sister at her college dorm. With this being Sara’s last semester at college before her graduation in a couple of months and the fact that Mariam had never stayed there overnight before, this seemed like a good idea. This would’ve provided the needed time for more bonding between sisters and some alone time together. It worked out well and they both enjoyed it. I had some alone time too, since this is the first Persian New Year without mom and I was more into my solitude and time to reflect. It went smoothly till the following drama happened.

The following Sunday afternoon Sara called me to tell me, that since I was driving, to pickup Mariam up from her campus and get her some stuff like frozen yogurt and sorbet. She also said that she was walking to the ATM machine to get some cash so they could order some takeout sushi for dinner. I said I’ll pick up the things she wants, we both said goodbye and hung up.

Less than five minutes went by when my cell phone rings again, it’s Sara.
Me: hello…hello….allo…olla… Sara?
There’s no response on the other end.
Hello Sara?
Sara? What did you call for?

I said to myself perhaps she is talking to one of her friends and she’d put me on hold. But I could hear the outside noise in the background. I got a bit annoyed and thought of hanging up. Then, I thought to myself that she has never called me and not said anything for five minutes. Then I remembered her saying that she was getting some money from the ATM machine. That’s when my heart skipped a bit and I thought she must want to say something but she can’t otherwise why wouldn’t she hang up the phone. Now, my mind started racing and different scenarios went before my eyes.. I tried to listen to the background noise so intently to see if I could pick up something that would explain the situation. The sounds would fluctuate; get higher and lower with no particular distinguishable words. I pressed the phone closer to my ear and that’s when I (no kidding) heard something that sounded like someone’s saying help! Help!

Immediately, I ran and handed the phone to her father and said I think Sara is in trouble, she called me but isn’t able to say a word, you try to talk to her, stay on the phone with her, while I call Mariam.

I get on the phone with Mariam to go ask for help from other girls, her suitemates, campus security, her response is: Are you serious? I said yes. Go. Sara’s in trouble. Then I find the number to the campus police and made the call:

Me: Hi, my daughter called me like ten minutes ago, she is still on the phone but isn’t saying anything, she was going to the ATM, and something must have gone wrong.
He replies, (sounding like one of the guys from The Sopranos) your other daughter is on the phone too. Which ATM did she go to?
Me: I don’t know…
Police Officer: There are fifteen ATM machines on the campus.
Me: I have no idea which one she uses. I don’t know…
Police Officer: Where does she live?
Me: Hum, hum, I draw a blank, nothing, no name comes to my mind, I don’t know…
Police Officer: Give me her name, we’ll go looking for her.

As I’m saying her name, I hear my husband in the other room saying it’s Sara on the phone, Sara, are you O.K?

He hands me the phone and I ask the same thing. She says, “Yea…why? What’s up?” I ask her to hold on while I thanked the campus security. I get back to Sara asking what went wrong, what happened, why wouldn’t she talk to me for ten minutes while on the phone? She very nonchalantly and calmly says, “Well, it must have hit the last number I dialed when I dropped the phone in my bag.” I reply, “What! You gave me a heart attack and I imagined all sorts of things happening but I am very glad you’re alright.”

Later on when I picked up Mariam, I found out that while having sushi they had a good laugh with tears rolling down their eyes at my expense for having gone nuts.

This note is for my daughters if they happen to read this, that I know I may be a little over zealous, passionately involved, and madly in love with you guys to the point that I may embarrass you at times. But if this were to happen again, know that I wouldn’t hang up on you and would call every person I could to find out if you’re O.K.



Photograph by Chris Johns, National Geographic Magazine