My sister called last night.  
My relationship with my sister has always been fairly straightforward.  Despite being younger than me by over half a decade, once we settled into adulthood, she was the mature one.  She moved to a new city, she went on the fast track of her career, pulls in a huge salary, owns several homes that she rents out, vacations around the world etc etc.  And that's awesome.  She looks at me....I guess "fondly" is a good word.  She thinks it's kinda neat to have a gay brother, and especially one that leads something of a boho existence.  We get along pretty well.
I'm not crazy about her phone calls, though.  Partially because, although she invariably starts the conversation with "just calling to catch up", the phone calls tend to be more akin to monologues.  She'll have her basic topic ready to talk about, and within a few sentences, she's off.  I'll occasionally weigh in an opinion or supportive comment, but mainly it's a lot of "uh huh" and "I see" on my end.  Even once we finish her main topic, any talk about what I'm up to tends to be a lot more desultory.  So I've taken to just summing up what's going on in my life in a compact paragraph that I can fit in at the end of the call.
Worse, she tends to talk in circles.  Most of the time, when people tell a story, they might do something of a sum-up at the end.  For instance, let's say you were telling me about an annoying phone call you got.  You might end your story by saying "...and I finally just gave up and hung up on him.  I really hate phone calls like that."  My sister, however, would  say "...and I finally just gave up and hung up on him.  I really hate phone calls like that.  Especially ones that start so promisingly.  Him saying 'hi, how are you'..." and we've started the story over again.  I'll catch certain phrases going by again and again.  In the past, I've tried to break them up.  I've said "Yeah, you've said that" or "I think you've made that clear" or "yeah, then he called you a name - got it".  But she generally responds to that with "you're right, you're right, I told you that.  I told you about him saying that.  But when that happens..." and the story continues. 
 
Mind you, this isn't a complaint really.  Yeah, I'd prefer the phone conversations were more two-sided.  But it eventually occurred to me (again, I'm kinda slow) that these phone calls were important to her.  Not for the familial bonding that she sort of seems to think it is, but because...well, I think she needs the gargoyle's approval.  When she tells me about her giving a talk to a bunch of industry bigwigs, it doesn't sound like she's bragging...or even just sharing a story.  Deep down, I sort of sense this "Can you believe it? I'M doing this."  And me giving my "that sounds great" comments seems to provide her with reassurance.  That I think she's a good person with a good head on her shoulders, who is good enough to make the right choices.  I guess it's nice to have that, even in the guise of a gargoyle you-go-girl. 
 
Last night's phone call was a bit different.  My parents are getting up there in years.  My mother's memory has started slipping a bit - nothing drastic yet, but just simple forgetting of unimportant conversations or whatnot.  My mother, being my mother, has worked on compensating - she writes a lot of notes down, keeps a calendar for everything, and rereads both to make sure she's not forgetting anything important.  But my sister is clearly concerned.  She realizes (as do I) that we're approaching the last phase of their lives.  Unfortunately, the repeated phrase last night was "I wish I could do more, but I'm two thousand miles away."
I finally asked, "OK, say you WEREN'T two thousand miles away.  What would you do?  And am I supposed to infer that since I'm NOT two thousand miles away, I should be have come to the same conclusion on what to do, and done it already?  When she forgot that I had a friend coming in from out of town - something I mentioned in passing, that didn't affect or influence her in any way - should I grill her on it?  Should I say 'but I TOLD you this! Why don't you remember'?  We're all watching her.  She still remembers almost everything, she's working on compensating, and what she forgets is piddling stuff.  When this takes a turn for the worse, I think we're all ready to make a move."  She said "No, you're right, you're right..." and I realized that this hadn't been an accusation.  She was...well, she was seeking the gargoyle's approval again, I think.  She IS two thousand miles away, and she may be feeling guilty about that...and she wants to know that she's not "abandoning her post".  That my mother is in good hands, with my brother and I nearby (and my father still living with her). 
I probably shouldn't have have responded like that.  But then again, I think it got the message through.  And hell - the gargoyle has needs, too, right?  
 
Lex