My childhood friend died a decade ago but his name & number are still in my phone. My poetry editor died last year. His name & number will always remain in my phone. "Home" means my little sister is calling instead of my mother & father who are gone and gone. This phone that I carry becomes heavy when I see that my contact list is gradually becoming half-cemetery.
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I have three voice messages from my grandmother that I cannot bear to delete, even though they reveal the progressive slurring from a throat paralysis that eventually took her life.
Yes, I have the phone numbers of lost family and friends in my phone too! My sister passed away from multiple sclerosis almost two years ago. I keep her phone contact info, but the poetry I have written to her and about her has helped more than pictures or phone numbers. I think we all fear the injustices of death and we hold on--life slipping away inevitably. I wish you and all the people who commented on loss here peace.