Address Book of Life

Two people in my cell phone contacts are no longer living.

It's the same problem I have with my address book.

Once, I drew a line through someone's name who died.

Everytime I looked at it, it seemed like such a cold thing to do.

I always write my addresses in pencil to make changes easier.

I've tried erasing names, but usually I can still see the name.

It seems ghostly.

I've tried writing, "Died" with the date. That seemed more memorial.

This week a friend died in childbirth.

For some reason, I went right to my cell phone contacts and looked at her number.

I thought, "Now what am I going to do?"

If I delete it, it will be gone forever.

I left it there.

I then checked to see if mom's number was still there.

It was.

I left it, too.

I think one day, I will feel comfortable not transfering them to the next phone and address book.

Not yet.

Kerry Martin was a lovely wife, a fantastic public servant and a joy to be around. Although she was only able to mother little Austin as he grew in her womb, she still was a great mother, too.