The story really was touching to me. You could feel the boy’s excitement when he saw his mother talking to information on the phone and saw that she would get the answers to everything. He really did think it was magic. You knew that he wanted to try it for himself and it finally happened when his mother was gone and he hurt his finger by hitting it with the hammer so he called b/c he didn’t have anybody else to help him.
After experiencing these things for himself he felt sure that she knew everything and always called her and talked about things like what he should feed his squirrel, arithmetic, and other such things. The thing that really made him keep calling her is that she was always caring and always listened to what he had to say. She was a sincere friend to him that was always willing to help him. Even though he never met her in person it was still a relationship that he valued a lot while he lived in Seattle.
As we can see the thing that really affected him was when he had to move across the country to Boston and didn’t have the same phone or information operator. He really contemplated these times after he moved away because he really appreciated the patience she provided to him and the security she helped him feel secure through providing the right answer and making time for a little boy when she could be using that time on somebody else more important. This is very valuable to him.
What made the difference the most? I believe it was that the operator made the boy feel important by her giving time to answer his questions and to listen carefully to him to make it seem like they were good friends. He reconnects with her once more when he stops in the Seattle airport and calls information to talk to his old friend.
The end is sad because he arrives again in Seattle and calls again but receives some unexpected sad news. Another operator answers and he asks for Betty but she says that she died about 5 weeks ago but left a note. I believe this means a lot to him because he knows exactly what she meant and really was sad because he had lost a friend that listened to him .
