One morning late last year Jack was sitting at the dining room table eating breakfast and I was sitting on the couch in the living room doing who knows what. I hear him say these words,
“How many people who wear black coats and collars are intolerant to Roanoke?”
I found this to be a strange question as I had never been aware of any priests who were against the legend of the Lost Colony. I thought, since I didn’t have my glasses on, that perhaps I had not heard clearly what he said. I don’t remember if I asked him to repeat the question or if I made some comment about the priests or if I simply exclaimed, “What?!!!” Whatever I said, he responded with a request for me to tell him what I heard. So I told him. And then to my surprise, he said (with a look of humorous amazement on his face,) “You’ve got to stop right there and write that down.” He wanted a record of this. Which turned about to be a good thing because this many months later I can tell you exactly what I heard that morning. The paper is right here next to me.
After I jotted it down for the record and so he could be certain of what I heard, he tells me (very slowly and clearly,) “What I said was,
‘I wonder how many people who are lactose intolerant are intolerant to raw milk.’
You can do the deciphering and try to figure out how I heard what I did.
I share this story to illustrate the great efforts that this husband and wife make to communicate and the great pains we go through to make sure that there are no misunderstandings. And you can see how easy it is to misunderstand — especially when you don’t have your glasses on.
