Peter's Birthday

Peter turned 43 on Monday, and my mom, dad and Sophie all contacted him during the day to wish him a happy birthday.

At 10pm after he and I had a cupcake each from Magnolia Bakery, I checked my cell phone voicemail. Sjoekje had called, and I couldn't quite understand what she was saying, so I put the phone on speaker.

When Peter heard the message, he said "is that Alice?"

As if Alice could call.

Hold on. When I, too, first heard the message, my heart dropped for a beat when she said "Haig." Incredibly, it sounded just like Alice. Her speech pattern, the tone of her voice, the rhythm of her words -- all evoked Alice. Within another moment, I realized of course it was Sjoekje.

Made me think that Alice called to wish Peter a happy birthday. I rarely check my voicemail via speaker phone, and when I do, nobody's around. It's like Peter was meant to overhear this message on his big day.

I e-mailed Sjoekje to tell her, and she said indeed she felt possessed by Alice when she was leaving the message, though not in a supernatural sense, in a spiritual sense. That in the past it's true they often sounded the same, and that Alice's voice was contagious.

The alternative is to accept that Alice won't be calling Peter on his birthday anymore. That when I say my family called him, that means he received 3 phone calls.

This scenario is just too hard to bear. I prefer to believe that Alice called this year along with the rest of the family.

The top photo is from Alice's flash drive that I just plugged in for the first time. Looks like it was taken with her telephone.

Even through a grainy image, her smile is luminous.