Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Letter to the editor:

Nothing beats hearing a voice

I just finished reading Jane Brody’s March 26 article, “The loneliness of social distancing.” Just a couple of days ago, I called my friend Joe. Joe and I are both 97 years old. When he answered the phone, I said, “Hello this is Edee and I am contacting you the old-fashioned way, by telephone.” We had a great conversation. We talked about what was going on today and how we were both doing. We spoke about the good old days and had some laughs.

Joe then posted on Facebook and on my timeline the music video “The Old Fashioned Way.” It wasn’t about telephoning but just some beautiful music that made my day more pleasant. As of today, I am still a hold-out — I have my flip phone, the new version. My friends and family know that I prefer not to text or receive texts. As Brody wrote, “The sound and tone of a person’s voice provide rich input into how someone is doing.” I have their phone number and they have mine.