by Debbie Feit
Long before FaceTime allowed people separated by miles to be together, my mother and I connected by breathing at each other over a corded phone. I would lament about my stalled career. My lack of a boyfriend. My failed weight loss efforts. When there was nothing left to say, she said the best thing of all: “We can stay on the phone and just breathe at each other.” She knew I wasn’t ready to hang up. Just as I knew this seemingly sarcastic sentiment was genuine. So we stayed on the line. And I felt her embrace with each exhalation.
Accidental mental health advocate and unrelenting Jewish mother Debbie Feit is the author of The Parent’s Guide to Speech and Language Problems (McGraw-Hill) as well as numerous texts to her children that often go unanswered. Her work has appeared in Insider, SheKnows, Kveller, Slackjaw, Points in Case and on her mother’s bulletin board. Read about her thoughts on mental health issues, her life as a writer and her husband’s inability to see crumbs on the kitchen counter on Instagram @debbiefeit or debbiefeit.com.
Emerge Literary Journal 