Love means never having to say, "Mom died of a heart attack because of a terrifying GIF video"

So we've already established here that I suffer from several anxiety disorders, including an intense and sometimes debilitating phobia of snakes. Just writing that word right there took quite a lot of concentration, and looking at it isn't easy. I wrote about this phobia once here, in case you'd like further understanding of its magnitude. If not, feel feel to leave the link closed and move right along.

It was Easter evening, and the day had been lovely. Church was nice, followed by a yummy turkey dinner with all the wonderful trimmings. Yep, we cooked "Thanksgiving" on Easter because it's about the only thing we know how to make. Around 6:30 p.m., Shulamith and tribe left to visit Matt's parents, and I settled in to relax after a full day, anticipating dessert in celebration of Isaiah's birthday once they returned.

But an hour or so later, my rest was interrupted by a sudden burst of contact from several family members within the same split second. Meine Gute! My phone, it seemed, was coming alive!

Here's what happened. Matt frequently steals Shulamith's phone and participates (as Shulamith) in conversations, especially in group messages. Usually, we can tell it's he, not Shulamith, texting, but sometimes he fools us, at least for awhile. I guess another thing he likes to do (and this one is beyond my comprehension) is use her phone to look at pictures and videos of those nasty reptiles (I'm not gonna write the word again).

So I guess he was watching an especially awful GIF of one of those things, and he copied it into a group text conversation among Gerald, Eli, Amanda, Shulamith, and me. Why did he do this? Who really knows? I think he doesn't fully appreciate the severity of my phobia or even phobias in general. He thinks I just make it all up. I don't. Enough said.

Anyway, Shulamith saw this GIF copied to the group text conversation, panicked, and tried to get her phone out of his hand. In that struggle, Matt accidentally hit "send."

And into immediate action my wonderful family went:

1.Gerald jumped up from his computer and raced into the bedroom to tell me not to open the text.
2. Shulamith texted me in our private thread, saying, "Group text. DON'T OPEN IT!"
3. Amanda began sending multiple messages, one after another in the thread, hoping to get past the awful video by the time I opened it.

But it was Eli for the win! He decided to go primitive and actually call me, and just as I was about to open the group chat, I saw his phone call and clicked on that instead. "Hi Eli!" I said. And in a calm, but untypically serious voice, he replied, "Mom. Listen carefully. Do not open the text in the group conversation. There's a terrible video there."

Panic pulsed throughout my body. I knew exactly what it had to be.

Love is an interesting thing. In my Sunday School class earlier in the day, we had discussed situations in our lives when we had witnessed, though "through a glass darkly," glimpses of self-sacrificing love between humans, which shadow the Savior's love for us. My family, at least those four mentioned above, love me enough to want to see me live another day.

There's a line from a 1970s romance novel (and movie) called Love Story that goes, "Love means never having to say you're sorry." But I don't think that's accurate.

I think instead it should say: "Love means never having to say, 'Mom died of a heart attack because of a terrifying GIF video.'"