can you hear me now?

i had an iphone before iphones were cool.  (i was also country, when country wasn't coooolllll.  sing it barbara mandrell!)  and it has been my pride and joy for the last three years.  really it has.  i would like to think of myself as not a prideful person, but i do love to whip it out in grander for the world to see that "yes, in fact, that is an iphone that i am using."  

and i am also well aware of the fact, that the rest of the world has one too.  but still it made me feel special.

pride goes before the fall, that's what my daddy always said.

speaking of falling.

my first born.  my three year old iphone was dropped.  dropped on it's face.  and cracked in nineteen different directions.  it kinda looks like a road for a very busy city, and i have even cut my finger once since it's incident.

i realize that there have been two, maybe three upgrades and new and improved iphones since mine was brought into my life, but we connected and i loved that thing.

did i mention that it has nineteen cracks now?  large ones.

we are starting to fight.  you should not be at risk of bleeding from the fingers when you use a telephone.

telephone?  does anyone say that word anymore?  is that even a valid word anymore?

after the fall, the apps started to stop working one by one.
then the volume started failing.
sweet thing would not hold a charge unless it was plugged in.
no email availability.
and the pitiful thing could only text.

for the past month or so, instead of whipping it out with a swelled head of pride, i keep her concealed.  it doesn't ring, hold a charge, check email - so really it was not even a challenge.  when i do need to get it out of my purse, instead of the entrance it used to make - we go in the corner for a quick timeout - if a call was received i would have to yell so loud just to hear and be heard that if i had not put myself in a self imposed timeout in the corner of the establishment where i happened to be, i am sure we would have been ushered out.

can you hear me now?

i didn't think so.

yesterday i got a new iphone.
it works.
there are no scratches, cracks or dens.
it is shiny.
i can hear on that thing too.
and it is soooo fast.

so here's to you old friend.  thanks for being my faithful companion for the past three years, you have seen me through the good and the bad.  the ups and the downs.  the 'woops' texting and the 'did i really just text that' texting.  you have shared a lot of great memories with me.  and will always hold a dear place in my heart.

now i shall put you away in my bedside table and let you have a rest.

one day i will introduce you to the new and improved version of yourself.

can you hear me now?

oh yes, you can!