Write Team: Our phones now hold our stories

I’m not sure if it is a byproduct of getting older but I find that I am using items as long as I can without throwing them away or getting a new one.

In the last six months, I have had to get a new refrigerator, a new furnace, a new hot water heater and new electronics for my washing machine.

I fear that my iPhone may be next and this one I’m really fighting.

I was late to the iPhone party, wanting to hold on to my Blackberry as long as I could. I loved the full keyboard feature of the Blackberry, not to mention the durability and ease of use. But sadly, one day I got a call from the IT department of my company informing me that I was only one of two people still using a Blackberry and effective a certain date, my Blackberry would no longer work.

Don’t get me wrong, since switching to the iPhone, I do see the value of Apple’s little device. There are so many features and capabilities of an iPhone that it is truly like have a small computer in my hand. It is somewhat ironic, however, that the poorest feature of the iPhone is the phone itself, but I digress.

My iPhone, much like it is for many of us, acts as a time capsule of my life and I think it’s for that reason that I am so attached to it.

I recently saw an item that advised that many people have more than a thousand pictures on their iPhones. I must be on the lower end of the picture spectrum as I only have about 500 but those 500 tell a story.

I have pictures of taking my kids to Pearl Harbor. It was the first time for them, and they didn’t really know what they would be looking for but once on site, the somber reality of the historical events started to hit home. There’s nothing quite like standing on the Pearl Harbor Memorial and looking below the water and seeing the outline of the USS Arizona, still leaking oil where it sits, 84 years after being attacked. Those pictures are in my iPhone.

I also have pictures of my dogs in my iPhone, both past and present. I have a picture of Ginger eating an entire pumpkin pie one Thanksgiving and remarkably not getting sick. I also have a picture of Tuesday, the current dog, the first day we got her. She was so tiny and cute, never revealing what a pain in the neck she would be.

Then there’s the tradition that my mom and dad had every year on July 2, calling and singing “Happy Birthday” first thing in the morning. It started once I had moved out and gotten married, way too many years ago. Even after my dad died, my mom continued the tradition, singing and leaving me a message. The last time was the year before she passed away. I still have that voicemail in my phone that in six years, I have not been able to bring myself to listen to. Maybe this year.

I realize my pictures, songs and voicemails from my mom are always accessible in the cloud, and it only takes a couple of button pushes to get them there. I’m not sure I completely trust the cloud so as long as I have my current iPhone, they’re always right there in my hand, ready to enjoy.

Jonathan Freeburg is an Ottawa transplant for the past two decades-plus and a regular contributor to 1430 WCMY Radio. He can be reached at newsroom@shawmedia.com.