The Upstory

My son, Cody, was housesitting for friends who were vacationing in Europe. He also was watching their five dogs, who are the most privileged furballs on the face of the Earth. Before jetting off, our friends instructed Cody to call if there was a problem. Any problem at all. Call. Day or night.

(I’m sure they were thinking about the dogs when they said this. One time a pipe burst while they were gone, and their main concern, from afar, was whether the flooding had caused a problem for the dogs.)

So, things went smoothly for a couple of days. The vacationers were having a blast floating down some river in Eastern Europe while Cody enjoyed their guest casita and swimming pool, and kept the dogs happy.

But things took a wrong turn at feeding time. Cody sliced his finger while opening a can of dog food. It was a deep cut and was spurting blood. He sopped his finger up in a paper towel and pushed through the furry crowd waiting to eat, to start hunting for first-aid supplies.

He looked and he bled and finally he decided to make that call.

Mind you, Cody could have called me. I was available and only a 20-minute cannon-ball run away. But Cody was instructed to call Miguel if there was a problem, so that’s what he did. The call went to Miguel’s voice mail and Miguel didn’t get it right away because Miguel was having the time of his life at a nightclub in Prague. Where it’s 1 a.m. And did I mention there were adult beverages?

Next, Cody calls me. He’s given up on finding a Band-Aid. He’s not even sure a Band-Aid will fix the problem. Can I come get him and drive him somewhere to get medical help?

Sure, of course. It’s in my Mom Contract to come to the aid of a child who’s bleeding profusely.

We get to Urgent Care, and sure enough Cody’s going to need stitches and even worse he’s going to get not one, not two, but three shots in the tip of his finger to numb it before the doctor comes at him with a needle and thread.

But wait, suddenly Cody’s phone is going off and it’s Miguel. He’s talking fast. And loud.

What happened? Who’s bleeding? Why are they bleeding? Are the dogs OK?

Miguel is understandably freaked out because when he listened to Cody’s voice mail all it said was: Where are your bandages? I can’t stop the bleeding.

So Cody explained that the dogs were fine and that he was in the process of getting his finger fixed.

I’m sure Miguel did some restorative hydrating after that call. And Cody went back to the casita for some R&R. After feeding the dogs.