It was New Year's eve 1983 and my partner at the time was out running a bar for a party and I decided to spend the night having a drink round my sister's house, rather than be on my own. About 2am I rang my boyfriend to check if he was home and found (in my tipsy state) that I'd rang my ex husband's number by mistake. He was not best pleased at being woken up, but begrudgingly wished me a Happy New Year.
On the 3rd January I received a phone call from my brother-in-law, who was a copper at that time and he informed me that my ex husband had been killed in a horrific accident on his first day back at work, at the brick works. Apparently he'd caught his sleeve in a brick press and got horribly mangled up, dying instantly, which was a blessing I suppose. The worst thing was having to tell the kids.
My youngest daughter was living with me and my boyfriend at the time and was the closest to her father, but they'd rowed before Christmas and weren't speaking, so having to tell her he was dead was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. She was devastated and I was blabbing too, so we just clung together bawling. I couldn't get in touch with my eldest daughter till later that morning, as she was living away from home and it was awful having to relate what had happened all over again. It just seemed like a bad dream. She hadn't spoken to her dad for months which made it worse, though it wasn't her fault, as he was a difficult man, prone to violence and suffered from depression. Still, I try to remember the good times as there were a few!
I often wonder if it was fate that made me dial the wrong number that New Year's Eve, to have that final few words with him. New Year's Eve 2008 will be the 25th anniversary of his death.
RIP
Author notes
Option 12
A contest entry
- The Hardest Thing I Ever Had To Do by CherryOnTop.
2200 points, ended January 7, 2008, 16 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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No idea if it's a true story but it isn't really important from the reader's perspective. It's good that the speaker got to have one last conversation with her ex-husband even if he was grumpy about being awakened. It's good that she had some fond memories.
There were a couple rough spots like "He was not best pleased at being woken up" which read awkwardly (seeming to have a possible adverb/adjective disagreement) but I don't think that was your primary concern when writing it. No, you had a story to tell and you told it well, keeping my attention until the end. Thanks, I like fiction and prose better than poetry.
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I believe indeed it was fate. God has a way of letting things work out that way.i remember when i was a little girl.my 20 year old brother lived seventy miles away. he and his wife came and begged my mom ,he did to let me miss school for a whole week.This was on a Sunday.Without realizing what was going on she agreed. He acted weird that night and had a major headache. Made my sister in law get his will and everything out.Yhe next morning he had only been at work for two hours.We were woke up by a sheriff knocking at the door.He had fell out on the job and died. I know this had to be hard for you to do.Good luck in my contest.
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Sometimes
Things happen for most unkown reasons, I think maybe you dialed him by mistake in a drunkerd state of mind, Yet also because in your heart you knew some peace had to be made, and through that last phone call, the Happy new years wish would be your last memory a gift.
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