Chapter Four
It was the day before Jay’s mother’s funeral. Aimee had asked Jay where the service was to be held, and had been surprised to learn that it was to be held online...
‘Didn’t you ever think about it?’
‘No. I have to tell you it never really crossed my mind.’
‘Well, if that’s the way your mother would have wanted it...’
Of course, it was becoming popular with a lot of people, but the older generation (especially those Aimee worked with) still wanted (or needed) to be present, for there to be a physical service and meeting. Jay had made all the arrangements without even thinking of not holding the ceremony online. This was how he lived his life, how he dealt with other people. It didn’t even cross his mind that anyone would think it a little odd.
‘I’m actually surprised that you mentioned it, Aimee. I mean who actually goes to these things anyway? It’s far better to be in the privacy of your own home. That way I can control on the vid screen who sees me, and what I see. The other way would mean...’
‘Would mean actually meeting people?’
‘Well, yes. I guess that’s part of it too. I don’t want to have to deal with that.’
‘You don’t want to meet people? Surely you can’t mean that Jay?’
There was a silence on the line and Aimee saw that Jay was lost for words.
‘Look, I’m sorry, Jay. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.’
‘No, it’s OK. You’re right. I suppose you must think me a little extreme, shutting myself in here all the time. But it’s not that I don’t talk to people. I mean I’m talking to you, aren’t I?’
‘I know, I know. And I’m so happy that we’ve been able to get back in touch again, I really am. You don’t know how much it means to me.’
‘Me too, Aimee. I feel as if I...I can connect with you much better than most other people. I mean, I couldn’t talk about this subject with anyone else.’
‘Well, that’s good. Jay. I’m glad. I wouldn’t like to think that we couldn’t talk about anything at all. There’s something about our relationship, even though we’ve been out of touch for so long. I feel we know each other, that we understand each other so well...’
Aimee had spent the last few days ringing Jay, reestablishing their relationship. Jay was flattered, grateful for the attention. They had started to get up-to-date with what the two of them had been up to in the years since their separation. Aimee had studied Social Care and Psychology at the Online University, and had specialised in caring for the elderly. She had started working for the City Care Service while finishing her studies, and had continued there ever since. It had originally been her attention to take a higher degree and maybe get a job working as a lecturer at one of the universities, but she found herself so strongly attracted to the practical care aspects of her job, she had so far decided to stay put. It was the nature of her job that she had become attached to so many of the older generation, and had accompanied many to funeral services. She had also attended funeral services of some of her patients.
Jay’s professional trajectory could not have been more different. He had immersed himself into the study of languages, specialising in dialects, and learning many of the dead or dying languages, such as Latin, Greek, and French. His work had introduced him to machine translation , and he managed to find employment with LinguSoft, the major manufacturer of software for portable interpretation headsets. He was one of the specialists employed by the company to handle anomlies in the output, and to prepare strategy reports based on ‘expert user’ complaints. This was how he spent so much of his working day connected to the company intranet, analysing the latest user data and preparing tests of texts and speech output for the company. He literally spent most of his day ‘talking’ to machines.
‘How many people will be tuning in to the funeral, do you think?’ asked Aimee.
‘I really don’t know’ Jay said, and he realised it was true. Did his mother have many friends? He knew there wasn’t much family, and that she had lost touch with most of them. But friends? He doubted it. He would find out tomorrow.
750 words
3134 words in total
46,866 words left to write
23 days left
= 2,037 words per day left to write
‘Didn’t you ever think about it?’
‘No. I have to tell you it never really crossed my mind.’
‘Well, if that’s the way your mother would have wanted it...’
Of course, it was becoming popular with a lot of people, but the older generation (especially those Aimee worked with) still wanted (or needed) to be present, for there to be a physical service and meeting. Jay had made all the arrangements without even thinking of not holding the ceremony online. This was how he lived his life, how he dealt with other people. It didn’t even cross his mind that anyone would think it a little odd.
‘I’m actually surprised that you mentioned it, Aimee. I mean who actually goes to these things anyway? It’s far better to be in the privacy of your own home. That way I can control on the vid screen who sees me, and what I see. The other way would mean...’
‘Would mean actually meeting people?’
‘Well, yes. I guess that’s part of it too. I don’t want to have to deal with that.’
‘You don’t want to meet people? Surely you can’t mean that Jay?’
There was a silence on the line and Aimee saw that Jay was lost for words.
‘Look, I’m sorry, Jay. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.’
‘No, it’s OK. You’re right. I suppose you must think me a little extreme, shutting myself in here all the time. But it’s not that I don’t talk to people. I mean I’m talking to you, aren’t I?’
‘I know, I know. And I’m so happy that we’ve been able to get back in touch again, I really am. You don’t know how much it means to me.’
‘Me too, Aimee. I feel as if I...I can connect with you much better than most other people. I mean, I couldn’t talk about this subject with anyone else.’
‘Well, that’s good. Jay. I’m glad. I wouldn’t like to think that we couldn’t talk about anything at all. There’s something about our relationship, even though we’ve been out of touch for so long. I feel we know each other, that we understand each other so well...’
Aimee had spent the last few days ringing Jay, reestablishing their relationship. Jay was flattered, grateful for the attention. They had started to get up-to-date with what the two of them had been up to in the years since their separation. Aimee had studied Social Care and Psychology at the Online University, and had specialised in caring for the elderly. She had started working for the City Care Service while finishing her studies, and had continued there ever since. It had originally been her attention to take a higher degree and maybe get a job working as a lecturer at one of the universities, but she found herself so strongly attracted to the practical care aspects of her job, she had so far decided to stay put. It was the nature of her job that she had become attached to so many of the older generation, and had accompanied many to funeral services. She had also attended funeral services of some of her patients.
Jay’s professional trajectory could not have been more different. He had immersed himself into the study of languages, specialising in dialects, and learning many of the dead or dying languages, such as Latin, Greek, and French. His work had introduced him to machine translation , and he managed to find employment with LinguSoft, the major manufacturer of software for portable interpretation headsets. He was one of the specialists employed by the company to handle anomlies in the output, and to prepare strategy reports based on ‘expert user’ complaints. This was how he spent so much of his working day connected to the company intranet, analysing the latest user data and preparing tests of texts and speech output for the company. He literally spent most of his day ‘talking’ to machines.
‘How many people will be tuning in to the funeral, do you think?’ asked Aimee.
‘I really don’t know’ Jay said, and he realised it was true. Did his mother have many friends? He knew there wasn’t much family, and that she had lost touch with most of them. But friends? He doubted it. He would find out tomorrow.
750 words
3134 words in total
46,866 words left to write
23 days left
= 2,037 words per day left to write
posted by blog-efl at 8.11.04
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