There was a period in Odhner history when we had three phones. Of course, now our family answers eight phones, with distinct numbers in four area codes, but I am referring to that distant time when all phones were tethered to the wall. They could not stretch farther away from the jack than the curly cord dictated, and they certainly never slid into your pocket. But looking on the bright side your toddler could not lose it and they never fell in the toilet. We felt luxurious about having a white one in the kitchen, a coffee colored one in the living room and a cinnamon brown one in our bedroom. It saved enormous amounts of seconds to have such easy access to an extension.

 

But unlike today's average life expectancy of twenty four months for a cell we held on to those diehards for a decade or two. Hence the tolerance for imperfections was high.

 

The white phone would dial but the reception was lousy, the coffee colored one was loud enough but you could not dial and the cinnamon model could transmit and receive but it did not ring. I remember yelling to anyone in the vicinity of the kitchen to dial grandma, after which I would pick up and talk.

 

Marriages are not always picture perfect. Last week I was listening to a friend whose marriage went up in smoke. She had material for self pity yet she chose not to indulge. Instead she raised her children alone, going back to work and filling her time with simple pleasures. She dated, yet a golden ring eluded her. What touched me most was her innocence. She still keeps a love for marriage in her heart, and trusts that God will provide a partner for her in heaven. The broken circumstances of her life can not rob her of peace. 

 

Later I was chatting with a woman whose in laws have outlawed them. They have not spoken to each other in years, and recently her daughter saw a picture of them and asked a piercing question. 

 

My friend was jarred, while still able to hold the parents of her husband with compassion. Her extended family did not match the Norman Rockwell paintings, but she did not allow that to pollute the joy she felt in her own home. 

 

It is fun to browse in an Apple store and see all the gizmos that are still in shrink wrap. The demos leave me dazzled. The phones are new, and unblemished.

 

I love to go to weddings and gaze at the gorgeous couple, whose joy spills out like the music through the windows. Their relationship is new and unblemished.