16,919.9 km to belfast
191.1 km. This one's long. I've been putting it off.
Mam was sick for seven years after I left and Bridie nursed her for all seven. I sent money. I was a nurse, I knew exactly what emphysema does, and I knew exactly what I was leaving my sister to do. I knew it every single month when I posted the money.
In November 1979 Bridie rang. Trunk call, a terrible line. "If you want to see her, come now." Claire was two. Des had just started with the council. We had about four hundred dollars. I said I couldn't.
Mam died that Thursday.
After the funeral Bridie rang again. I don't remember most of it. I remember she said, "You were always a shallow-end girl, Noreen."
And I said, "At least I got out."
Then there were Christmas cards for nineteen years. Just the names. Noreen, Des and Claire. Bridie. In 1998, after the peace agreement, hers had one line extra: Peace now, apparently. Come and see it. B.
Des had his bypass that January. By the time he was home it felt too late to answer, and then it was.