I would share pics, but I didn’t have my phone.
We were already on the road to an activity with friends midday when I realized I hadn’t put my phone in my purse. I asked my husband to turn back ‘round but he said we would be late.
No phone for the whole day? With a family party later in the evening? Unthinkable.
And yet there I was, in the car, unable to fix the situation.
In the back seat, my youngest daughter commiserated as she was busy tapping a message on her phone.
I twiddled my thumbs, suddenly turned jobless, and looked out the window. It was a sunny day, though crisp cold, and we passed some wetlands with water so smooth it reflected the snowy mountain range, tinged with blue. Had I even noticed that before as a passenger?
Using my husband’s phone, I messaged my other kids that I had left my phone at home and to please message their dad instead.
I glanced nervously at my husband. We could actually…talk to each other. I’d forgotten how to do this. I asked him questions like we used to in the pre-cell phone days.
After our midday activity, we moved on to grabbing a quick bite to eat. Gasp. No phone to take pics of my JDawg polish sausage smothered with onions, sauerkraut, and their special sauce. And me eating it.
Next stop was setting up for a family Christmas party at 3:00 p.m. I had no way of videoing the flurry of activity. So I busied myself helping set up tables and chairs. Once that was done, I felt a little at a loss as to what to do next.
Everyone else was on their phones, scrolling. I had…nothing to scroll. So I walked around and got some steps in.
A couple of hours, with the party in full swing, I did not take a single photo. Other people did while I zoomed after my cute grandson, visited with family, and mingled over an ice-breaker activity.
And then it was time to come home. Where I found my phone face-down on my bed.
One of my kids had messaged me earlier. “How are you going to entertain yourself all afternoon?”
“Somehow,” I typed back, “I managed.”
Jewel Allen is the author of sweet romance novels and Rapid Release: How to Write & Publish Fast for Profit. Get a free book here.
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