Steven Birenbaum: Straight to Voicemail

Steven Birenbaum shares his frustration after his late father’s voicemails were accidentally deleted.

After my father died, a wise friend advised me to preserve any voicemails I had from him. The first thing you will forget, he said, is the sound of his voice.

And so, for the past four years, I kept the five voicemails I had, most of which addressed his declining health. After he died, I couldn’t bring myself to listen to them, but like the Peanuts character Linus, with his blanket, I found comfort knowing they were there.

There was one, in particular, I wanted to hold on to. It said, “Steven, I’m just calling to say hi. I miss hearing from you.” The message reflected who he was. He taught me so many valuable lessons in how to show up as a father comfortable in his masculinity.

Recently, I got a new phone. The wizards at the Apple Store assured me everything would port over from the beneficent cloud, the one I pay handsomely for each month. I didn’t think to ask whose domain voicemails fall under.

Two days later, all the voicemails, except one, had disappeared. I Googled for a solution. After 90 minutes talking to various Verizon representatives, who thanked me for my 19 years of loyal customer hood, I learned there was a glitch in the Matrix and there would be no Lazarus-like resurrection.

I was quietly devastated. A person’s voice is almost impossible to conjure from memory, and those recordings were a thru line to him.

Is all this technology doing us any favors? Can we stop with the indoctrination about a limitless future? Any why aren’t there any instructions for downloading and saving voicemails? With a Perspective, I’m Steven Birenbaum.

Steven Birenbaum is a writer who works in philanthropic development.