I Followed The Yellow Brick Road

In the 49 years we have been married I would have to say communication and technology is what has changed the most. (other than the pounds, wrinkles, aches, and pains we have added to our collections)

As I mentioned in my Honeymoon post, getting a private phone was so important to us as newlyweds and first time homeowners. So much that we delayed the start of our honeymoon to make sure we didn’t end up with a party line. That phone was so important to us. This was our first time away from our families so this was, at least in my eyes, my lifeline to our families. Our first phone was a rotary dial. In looking back at old pictures I think our first was on the counter but quickly moved to a wall mount. At one point we even hung a wooden replica phone that looked like something out of Lassie. Of course in the years to come we transitioned to a push button, added an answering machine with remote phones, and eventually gained a second line in the bedroom or our tiny 900 sq ft home. In the 80’s we had set up a desk in our bedroom where I was able to hold a second job making calls as Anne Clark (more later)

In the mid 1990’s our phone was instrumental in getting us on the dial-up connection with our new computer. Something I told my children we would never have a need for. Little did I know it would become so important in the path I followed in the years after.

That number came with us as we moved from our 900 sq ft house to our brand new home just miles away and then eventually to our current beautiful home we all “Bearly in the Woods” By this time we had gone through the beeper phase, the large clunky car phones, and now would not leave a room without our cell phones attached at the hip. The house phone which was once our lifeline was now the source of annoying solicitors and the public calling in to vote for their favorite contestants on Dancing with the Stars. Apparently our number was the same as the voting line for the competition each week. Hilarious that so many locals did not realize that the national number needed to add the 800 in front of the number. Teasing caller each week became almost as entertaining as watching the show.

In 2017 we made the heartbreaking decision to stop paying for that number we worked so hard to get. Every once in a while I dial that number. Along with my Mom & Dad’s phone number. Neither have been reassigned.