Wish You Were Here 
Always call back your grandmother. She may not have much time left. 

Should’a … Would’a … Could’a … Sure, until it’s too late and you can’t bring ‘em back. What were you doing that was so important, anyway? 

In Wish You Were Here, writer Mike Murphy introduces us to thirty-something Brent, an entrepreneur doing what it takes to build a computer business from scratch. Admirable guy. 

Brent’s a go-getter well-versed in motherboard, yet at home he still maintains a bygone era-relic: an old-fashioned answering machine. Thus far, he’s no boar. 

The story opens to an exhausted Brent arriving home late at night, missing his late-night talk show. Tossing his briefcase aside, he hits the play button on his quaint box and hears: 

Grandma. 

Brent knows he’s more than lucky to have his grandma around: He’s simply overwhelmed. 

Although grandma dislikes Brent’s robotic device, she knows it’s her only way to communicate with her grandson. So, she makes the best of it and speaks as if he’s there: keeping him up to date on the latest innocuous gossip, advising how he should eat healthy and not frequent ‘miserable’ fast-food drive-through’s …and recommending he get enough sleep. 

Though he’s busy building an empire, Brent vows: “I have to make time to call her back.” 

Well, he doesn’t. On the next recording, grandma coughs into the machine whilst apologizing (“just a little tickle”). Amid her decline, she recalls a memory for Brent. When he’d overindulge in ice cream as a child, he was rewarded with the same little tickle. Meaning: don’t worry. 

Although what happens next is heartbreaking, an ingenious, upbeat note offers hope in moving forward. 

Murphy’s reminder of the value of family and loved ones is a must read. All of us should find a way to reach out before it’s too late … 

“We are similar. I miss you and you miss my call.” - Suman Pokhrel, Nepali poet