We had a telephone. A wooden box telephone with a crank on the side, speaker growing out the other side like a flower, and a mouth piece on a cord. A "Party- line" was how we spoke to anyone not living with us. Two longs and a short was our number but all our neighbors were on the same line and could listen in to each other's calls. That was the telephone we grew up with. Everyone knew everyone's business.

The black rotary phone arrived after the war. We ran to answer the ringing black rotary dial phone because only family and friends called. We had a private line just for us, family and friends instead of being on a shared party line. A private conversation with family and friends was wonderful and new.

Distant relatives communicated mostly by letter because calling long distance was expensive. Long distance calls were few, three or fewer minutes long and important.

Citizen Band Radios (CBs) connected fellow travelers. Travelers were on their own until the 70s when CBs made it possible for people in different cars to speak to each other; as long as they were within a mile or so of each other. Prior to CBs the only way to travel together was by "in-sight" convoy.

Conversing between CBs made it possible for Marylyn and me to move ourselves, our toddler Eirean, Beezer the cat and accumulated goods 2400 miles from North Carolina to Arizona in 1977. Luckily we moved in the middle of winter since Marylyn's new car overheated, needed water added often, required her to call me driving a moving truck towing our old Mustang, to come help.

Flip Phones arrived in 1992. Carrying one made calling each other easy as house phones became inundated by salesmen, politicians and pollsters constantly calling thereby making "land-line" phones worthless. Our children no longer have land line phones. We now screen all calls and only answer and speak to family and friends: Doctors leave a message.

Traveling across country was a little more connected as long as one had an expensive paid for cell phone plan in the zone where one was traveling. Texting was a slow awkward, but possible, one-thumb process.

Smart Phones arrived in 2007. Smartphones have become an extension of us. We use them to communicate with others, search for things online, and save important moments by taking photos and videos. We spend several hours each day using them; always making sure to have them within reach.

They have changed how we search for information. Thanks to their ability to connect to the Internet, they are now the ultimate repository of humankind's collective knowledge, they provide instant access to music, movies, and directions to never before visited places.

The bad news is they are invasive. Criminals can contact anyone in ways that sound and appear completely legitimate. In addition Smart Phones are programmed to be addictive. Overuse can act as a barrier to quality interactions and conversations, leading to decreased satisfaction in our relationships. Excessive use can lead to feelings of being disconnected even when with friends and family.

Connectivity has become common. Person to person conversation is much easier and more frequent now than in the 50s. Our Smartphones do keep us connected but that has become so common it is not always as valued or intimate as it was in the past. Back in the day when the phone rang it was because someone I loved wanted to talk to me.

There's no substitute
for holding hands over tea.
My phone rings like a telephone should.