Ach, I never thought this would happen. When I left Lancaster, my family and the Amish church, I knew full-well what would happen - Meidung. Shunning. I was under no misapprehension about that. It meant no further contact with my family, my friends, or anyone from my community... at least, that's what it's supposed to mean! And disobeying it is a serious offense, according to the Ordnung, or the rules by which we - or rather, the Amish - live our lives. So you can only imagine my surprise when I answered the phone this evening to hear a ladich-, or tired-sounding voice on the other end.
"Abram?" The woman said, and my spine straightened immediately.
"...Mam?" I answered after a moment, unsure if my ears were decieving me.
"Jah, Abram," came her quiet reply. "Tis me."
I hesitated. After nearly a decade of living modern and not hearing a peep from any of my family, I was a bit ferhoodled, to say the least, at my mother calling on me, on the telephone no less. I said the first thing that came to mind. "Is everything alright, Mam?"
"Ach, no. Abram... yer Dat's died."
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