253-841-3665

I finally did it. I disconnected our land line after nearly 30 years.

It was difficult to do because of the sentimental value 253-841-3665 holds. We used to talk to real people on that line, not just solicitors and robo callers.

My daughters talked to their girl friends and a few (maybe many) boyfriends on that number. We got our stretching exercise leaning across the counter to pick up the handset. There were probably countless hours of doodling while seated and talking on the phone. And it was always a race to see who could pick up the phone first because at one time or another, we all anticipated a special call. And for years, I've refused to give up the line with the excuse it would be used in an emergency.

But the time had come with the impending remodel of the kitchen. Although hard to see in this photo, the old, yellowed, plastic US West phone set hangs on the wall on the left side of the counter amid the coffee containers, book stand and charging station. Within a couple months, there will be a backsplash of tile covering the area where the phone used to reside. And we'll probably buy a crank phone to use in an emergency.

So it goes. Time marches on. Out with the old and in with the new, but from now on, I'll gaze at that spot in the kitchen and remember way back when.