The Death of a Phone Line

Call me sentimental.  Call me nostalgic.

But don't call me at 348 6634 anymore.  I'm grieving!

My mom and dad have had this phone number since July 17, 1967.  That's nearly 51 years.  It began as Diamond eight six six three four.  Then it was shortened to DI 8 6634, then it was changed to just 348 6634.  Then it was lengthened with the addition of the area code to 214 348 6634.

This number has been a part of my life for the past 51 years.  It has been a true friend.  It is a part of my history.  This is the phone line that has withstood the test of time.

When we first moved to the house when I was in 4th grade, this is the phone I would pick up.  I chose the "assigned seat" at the breakfast table, because it was the "closest" to the phone.  This is the phone number my childhood friends such as Lisa, Donna, Pat and even Prissy would call.

This is the phone number I put on all my medical records while attending grade school, the phone number my mom would use to follow-up on "room-mother" activities for my 5th and 6th grade years.  She used this number to call my Camp Fire Girls friends to inform them of my surprise birthday party she organized for me one Sunday night after our Pioneer Girls meeting up at the neighborhood Baptist church.

This is the phone my parents called from maybe only 3, but no more than 5 times while I was in college up in Chicago.  I could expect a phone call on my October birthday usually around 9pm (because it was cheaper then).  The two other times I got a phone call was informing me of the unfortunate and untimely death of my cousin in a fatal small engine plane crash and the unexpected death of Donna's and Pat's father.

This same phone number was used for my contact information when I applied for my first "real" job at Delta Airlines.  I used 348 6634 when Glenn asked for my phone number to ask me on my first date with him.   And then I used this number for about 2 hours non-stop to call my close friends and family to inform them that Glenn had proposed to me.

And we called this number thousands of times when we moved 4,500 miles away, 3 time zones and a southern hemisphere away to Bolivia.  Our good friend, John Gunter, known as CP5AC/CP6 would do phone patches to this number.  He announced the birth of Gary Glenn by using another HAM operator in the states that in turn, called 214 348 6634.

Recently, my father, along with consultation with my brother and Glenn, decided that it was best to pull the plug, to cancel the land-line.  I didn't realize it would be so hard on me emotionally.  It's just a phone line.  It's just something that has been a part of my growing up years.  It has history.  And it is a part of me.  But I realize the need for change.  There is no need for a land-line with the emergence of iphones and cell phones.

Good - bye 6634. RIP