ROTARY DIAL

Background
On May 28th, 1923, Frances Elsner was blessed with a baby boy, whom she named Henry. This boy didn’t exactly have the best childhood; He grew up without a father, who ran away and dropped all contact with his significant other. This wasn’t good for the boy nor his mother. In fact, Frances wasn’t quite emotionally stable to begin with, and due to undiagnosed achromatopsia, it was difficult for her to live on her own. Overcome with loneliness, the mother took her grief out on her child, constantly reminding Henry that, one day, the two will inevitably die, and only then will she not feel so alone. She raved on and on about how much she couldn’t wait for that day to come, how much she couldn’t wait for Henry to die.

Henry was able to escape the abuse of his mother, however, though his childhood friend, Nancy. Her ability to see colors in relation to sounds fascinated him, and the two quickly became the closest of friends. While Frances was incredibly strict and forbid him from leaving her alone except to go to school, Henry would still find ways here and there to sneak out and play with Nancy. The two grew up side-by-side, and, in the spring of 1950, became happily married. Being on his own now, Henry saw no reason to stay in touch with his mother. Just like that, the only person left in Frances’ life had shut her out entirely.

This song is related to HOUSEWIFE RADIO.