By Olivene Godfrey.

From time to time folks who know me well will ask, " Why do you insist on dramatizing everything? Why can't you tell anyone anything without building up the suspense for 15 minutes?"

And now that I am older, I will sometimes be telling a long tale to someone and will build up to the climax and my mind will suddenly go blank? Talk about embarrassing!

I guess this trait is emphasized because of my manner of speaking. Example: Along about bedtime, I used to exclaim in the tone of voice reserved for emergencies to my late husband, " Oh, my goodness! Oh, me! Oh my! Do you know what I did?"
Now you would think over the years he would have wised up but he would look alarmed and ask, "What is wrong?"" And a typical answer would be that, "I forgot to call Suzy and I promised her I would be sure to call tonight." My husband would look disgusted and return to his book or TV viewing, muttering under his breath.

There is a woman in our town whom I have admired since the day when she called me when my son was a student, " Will you bake a cake for the P-T-A Harvest Dinner?" I said I would bake a cake and the woman thanked me and hung up the phone. I couldn't have done that in a hundred years.

Whenever I have been asked to call a dozen women it requires at least a week to complete the calls. I can't resist asking a question that doesn't pertain to the purpose of my call and we talk and talk. And before I explain the purpose of the call I am driven by a need to explain in great detail the importance of the project, etc....

Actually, I can't believe my telephone conversations are a waste of time. Some of my best writing ideas have developed from a remark or comment made during a telephone conversation.

Back to the background leading up to the climax of a tale. My impatient son will often interrupt me with, " Get to the point."
At this stage in my life, I am not likely to change though.