The contacts list in a smartphone is convenient, but it can’t hold memories the way a handwritten directory can
MY GRANDDAUGHTER visited last weekend, and while she was here, I asked if she had her brother’s new address, as I had something I wanted to send him. She scrolled through her phone, and I marvelled again at the convenience of technology. A phone, not an address book? While I’m not entirely techno-illiterate— I type, after all, on a laptop—I find it hard to grasp the changes that happen so quickly.
“Here, Gran,” said Carly when she found the address. “I’ll write it down for you.”
“Will you put it in my book?” I asked, pointing her to the phone table in the hall. They probably don’t have phone tables anymore, either, I mused.
Carly picked up the well-worn address book and looked inside, a curious expression on her face. “There’s hardly any room left to write numbers,” she said with a laugh as she wrote what I needed in the margin. “And it’s full of names you’ve scratched out.”
“Well, dear, those are people who’ve passed on,” I explained.
“Dead?” said Carly.
“Dead,” I echoed. “I can’t press ‘de lete,’ so I just scratch out the names.”
“Oh,” she said, looking a little horrified. “That’s so sad.”
After Carly left, I picked up my address book and took it into the living room with a cup of tea.
Bu hikaye Reader's Digest India dergisinin May 2018 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Reader's Digest India dergisinin May 2018 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Have Child, Will Travel
Bringing my kid on my around-the-world adventures helped me see her in new and unexpected ways
As Gods Among Us
A photographer explores the gamut of India’s ritual performers who embody deities as a form of worship
My stutter, Myself
If others don't notice my stutter, can I really call myself a stutterer?
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Modification
A Queensland mechanic customizes bikes so veterans can get riding again
I Tried It...Exercises to Relieve Tech Neck
I STARE AT MY phone for five hours a day.
The Upside of Getting Lost
I was in the woods with my family and we'd lost our way. My phone was dead. It was getting dark. How could this possibly be a good thing?
A MOTHER'S CONVICTION
AFTER ALL FOUR OF KATHLEEN FOLBIGG'S CHILDREN DIED IN INFANCY, A COURT FOUND HER GUILTY OF MURDER. TWENTY YEARS LATER, SCIENCE FINALLY UNCOVERED THE TRUTH
KITT THE COURAGEOUS K-9
Officer Bill Cushing needed a partner. His dog needed a purpose. Together, they rescued each other
Lite, Unplugged
Could you get through seven days without looking at a device? I tried—here’s what happened
GET A GREEN(ER) THUMB
Whether you love digging in the dirt, planting seeds and reaping the bounty that bursts forth, or find the whole idea of gardening intimidating, this spring offers the promise of a fresh start.