28 Comments

I related to this a lot. Not about mom calling because my mom blows up my phone unless she's hiding something from me (which speaking of that, I haven't heard from her in a couple days...). But I do relate to the "avoiding tough conversations" especially with my parents and people I love. Especially when I do it once and then nothing changes which is what always happens when I try to assert boundaries with my parents. So good luck!

Also, Randy on the podcast! I am launching it now!

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Mar 16, 2023Liked by Charlie Bleecker

Call your mom. If she never calls you back, so what. She is your mother. You already know she doesn’t call you for whatever reason.

It is called mercy and grace...just do it. Some day she won’t be around.

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Enjoyed this, Charlie. I guess I write to free up something I don’t even know is trapped somewhere in the depths of me. So for me it’s liberating. And clarifying. More than clarifying, it’s clearing, almost purifying. It’s making transparent something that’s been opaque and hidden. As for twitter, I hate it. But I have to be there. It’s like a Purgatory, in a sense. :)

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That episode of Bleecker Bombs was SO good. Totally relatable. And the Chuck + Randy dynamic works so well! He needs to get a podcast going ASAP.

I was nodding vigorously and laughing at the Twitter portion of the conversation.

Twitter SUUUUUCKKKKS 😊

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Mar 15, 2023Liked by Charlie Bleecker

This essay makes me feel guilty because I call my Mom way less than she calls me. Actually I call everyone in my life less than they call me. Shit. Just realizing that I’m the asshole in all of my relationships. Thanks Charlie.

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Whoa, yes. It hit from the first line to the last. Why do we do this to ourselves? I find myself embodying my cross-armed 11-year-old self pouting until the phone rings. And it still doesn’t!

And the best part is when it’s a convo w mom about siblings never calling. ‘I wish your brother would call more’ ‘oh interesting, How often do you call him?’ And hoping that eventually someday it .... may... ring!

Looking forward to the podcast listen on my next walk!

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My mom calls once in a while, but she assumes everything is fine if I don’t call her, likewise myself.I guess your mom don’t want to bother you, but since you’re not okay with that ,I think this Easter holiday will be the best time to talk it out!

This write up is an important reminder!👍

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If I had an East Coast spirit it'd be Bleecker...

When my son was born I started trying to FaceTime my parents at least once a week so they could see their one and only grandson but my mother who embodies the stereotypical Latin American woman always on the phone talking to some relative, NEVER CALLS ME.

But when I call her, the artillery of inquiry begins. Can't win.

I write in part because it feels rebellious.

look at this uneducated hispanic kid trying to communicate in English no less! I love it.

I write in part because it feels elegant.

My rollerball pens (I'm not pompous enough for fountain pens) and high grain archival journaling paper feel more refined than any keyboard I've ever owned.

I write because I need the past

All the wild little things that don't seem to add up in the moment, when placed on the page, age after age, feels like I now have a way to navigate.

I write for the future

My father was abandoned by his father, and my father, to this day has not once, not ever written me a thing or even gifted me a book. He has done his best, but I have nothing of his mind, nothing for his memory. For my son, I've been writing to him since before he was born and my hope is those tiny treatises and tales will remind him of how much he's loved and who he is.

Twitter got better for me after WoP though I'm still not a fan of the algorithm and ads. I don't have the app on any of my devices.

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I totally get the mom call thing!

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