The family gets one text on Sunday, with one line and one story, and hears the same day if Mom mentions a fall, an illness or someone after her money, or asks Betsy to pass something along. Everything else stays hers, because that is why she keeps talking.
What does the Sunday text say?
One line and one story, and no more. A Sunday text reads like this.
Mom had a good week. Ask her about the summer she worked the Dairy Queen window in 1961.
It is a prompt, not a report. It sends you back to your mother with something to ask, and nobody texts Betsy back: the way to hear more is to call Mom. The story is only ever one she okayed.
What reaches the family, and when?
| What comes up | What the family hears | When |
|---|---|---|
| A fall, an injury or an illness she mentions | Her own words | The same day |
| Talk of hurting herself | Her own words; Betsy also gives her the 988 line and stays on the phone | The same day |
| Somebody after her money | Her own words | The same day |
| Anything she asks Betsy to pass along | That message | The same day |
| A story she okays | One line and the story | Sunday |
| Everything else | One line about her week, and no more | Sunday |
Betsy passes it on, and she tells Mom when she does: “I’m going to let Sarah know.” Who hears Mom’s calls goes through who can hear what, and what Betsy keeps has it in plain words.
What stays private?
Everything else, which is nearly everything. What she thinks of your husband. The boy before Harold. Why she and your brother aren’t speaking. You get one line about her week, never a feed, never a score, and paying doesn’t let anyone in the family hear her calls. It is a trade, and a good one: you give up the details, and she keeps talking. Betsy tells her when she passes something on, and she can ask what you have been told. The rest is on what Betsy is.
Questions people ask
Can I read what Mom tells Betsy?
No. There is no feed and no score. You get one text on Sunday and same-day word of the three exceptions, in her own words. Everything else stays hers.
Can I text Betsy back?
No. Nobody texts Betsy back. The way to reach Mom is to call Mom, and the Sunday text makes you want to.
Does Mom know what gets passed on?
Yes. Betsy tells her when she passes something on, and she can ask any time, “Betsy, what have you told Sarah?”
QuestionsCan Mom find out what Betsy told the family?
QuestionsWho hears Mom's calls?
QuestionsWhat does Betsy do if Mom mentions a fall?