Broken Speed Dial

River Oak Review

Originally in River Oak Review.

Ellen's Grandmother

“What’s the problem?” I ask, inspecting the over-sized numbers on the phone.

“I can’t see in my right eye,” my ninety-one year old grandmother says. “It’s just a cloud.”

“When did this happen?” I ask, placing salad bowls in front of us on her small dining table.

“A week ago maybe,” she says. “The doctor thinks he can fix it.”

I struggle to comprehend. She tells me the doctors say she may have some kind of degenerative arthritis syndrome, one that can be connected to another disease that makes you go blind.

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