Mmmbye Bye

I called my grandmother today.

Every once in awhile, I like to call and say, “Hey G-mama!” and hear her say, “Well hey, honey!”

Then we talk for awhile—about what I’ve been doing or what I have coming up—about how she’s feeling and what she’s eaten—about how and what everyone else in the family is doing—etc.

Whenever she’s ready to get off the phone, sometimes after 5 minutes, sometimes after 45, G-mama begins wrapping up the conversation—you know the its-time-for-the-end-of-the-conversation-rhythm—and I prepare myself for what always brings me a smile. Our conversations always end the same way:

I say, “I love you, G-mama.”

She says, “I love you, too, honey. Mmmbye bye.”

And I smile and say, “Bye :-).”

It’s the "mmmbye bye," with a slightly higher pitched second bye, followed by a return to the original pitch before the word is finished, that gets me. It’s very sweet. Very unique. Very G-mama. And, in the midst of my packing/unpacking/moving exhaustion, I’m glad that I was able to hear it and smile today.

PS. I’ll be saying "mmmbye bye" to SC very early Saturday morning. I have some nephews to surprise at Tweetsie Railroad.