If the phone rings at 3:00 a.m. at my house, it is probably someone who has had so much to drink they can’t read or dial a phone number. The potential for a 3:00 a.m. phone call at the White House has me thinking about other calls (delivered by telephone or in other ways):
The result from the PET scan.
Notice that a spouse’s tour of duty has been extended.
Word that the tumor is back.
An aging parent with a catastrophic health incident.
The company is making cutbacks and you are being laid off.
And when the phone rings when a teenage son or daughter is out late with friends, you hope it’s nothing more than wanting a ride home.

International issues are important and so are the issues that touch our friends on a more personal level.