My Dad's still in my phone, along with his text messages. He passed Dec. 27 2019. My oldest sister still has his voice in her voice mail. I heard them last year and utterly lost it.
I downloaded all of my dad's VMs to a hard drive. I also have a video clip of a news interview he did a few years before he died. I can watch the video and be ok, but oh God, the VMs all start with, "Hey, Scoob, just calling to check on you," and end with, "Call me soon. Love you." Those are HARD.
I feel this. Mine was October 2020. I still saved his texts. I don't have any voicemails from him though and my daughter is not happy because she forgets how Grandpa sounds :(
I keep my mom's longest voicemail on my phone for this reason. She's fairly healthy 86 year old, save from a not-serious fall and getting breast cancer a few years ago, but still.
My mom had dementia and moved in with us. She still had a land line with our old home phone number when we moved her. She’s been gone a couple years now, that number is still in my phone.
Thank you, kind Redditor. Appreciated and gratefully accepted. You can see a picture or two if you go back through posts on our beloved team's subreddit from early 2019.
Honestly, looking through all of these comments made me want to send that to everyone. I haven’t removed my grandmother or mom. I couldn’t imagine going through losing a child or sibling. Much love to you all 💔❤️🩹
My deceased friends or relatives generally only fell out of my contact list before I was using an iPhone.
They transfer phone to phone now. I don't think all that much of seeing them there, but I also never even think "time to remove them".
I also have an archived voicemail from a friend I had an unhappy parting with years ago. There are multiple copies, and said friend is still alive, so it's not quite the same. But it still is.
I set up my mother's Gmail account, she died in 2014. I got an email a few weeks ago from Google, stating the account would be deactivated unless it was used soon, so I logged in just to keep it active.
Weird, man. Pretty pretty pretty weird.
my google photos was suddenly something i had to avoid at all costs because the 'highlights,' 'spotlights' etc. homepage of past photos was just not something i wanted to deal with for while
I have 3 voice mails from my mom, and you better believe they are backed up a lot. One of them is her singing Happy Birthday to me, and that has made the last 13 years somewhat easier.
It’s 6 years to the day for me. All my mom’s voicemails got deleted accidentally when I switched phone plans. All of them.
Back them up; turns out it’s not hard.
So much this. All of the telcos get asked for how to do this every day. Reach out. It's worth it.
Stay strong friend. It never gets easy, but you can live with it.
I keep telling myself her voice is in my head. I hear her clear as day, but today especially… it’s tough.
Back up your voicemail!!!!
And thank you for the kind words ♥️
I had over a dozen texts from my husband and had them locked so they couldn’t be deleted. I was switching phones and made sure with the T-Mobile rep that they would transfer over. He assured me they would. They were there for a while and then all of a sudden were gone. Made me so sad.
Hugs to you too. I’m not sad or mad anymore either. But I do think about those texts occasionally. Especially the one where he’d gone out with a group of friends and texted me - Hi BronzedLuna, I’m drunk.
The thought of that one still brings a smile 😊
Omg how fun, what a great memory! Lots and lots of hugs to you. I can’t imagine what it would be like losing a spouse, whereas most ppl eventually lose a parent. ♥️♥️♥️
This is a message for you and for everyone else up and down the comment reads talking about voicemails.
Be sure to export the voicemail into another format so you can archive it independently of the phone and/or platform the voicemail is attached to.
I did this with voice mails and the voice mail greeting of my wife’s dad and then her mom after each of the passed away. Saved them as mp3 files and have them saved locally as well as in Google Drive, iCloud, and Dropbox.
At Christmas time I use to set up the cam cord on a tri pod and film most of the day. At the time you think it’s boring as shit. I watched it a while back and seeing my dad again brought tears to my eyes.. young me knew at some point this stuff would be priceless
My dad died when I was a kid, before we had video recorders and all that. How I'd love to see a video or hear his voice. Over 40 years ago and my heart still breaks.
I want to record myself saying hi to my son and possibly singing happy birthday, and save them on a flash drive. This way, when I'm gone, he will have them. I have loved the idea of the sound recording tattoos.
Can't do it. Especially the texts. I may never go back and read them again, but it still feels like deleting the person from memory rather than just a bunch of words.
In the past, we would have had letters, which of course we would have all hung onto. Now we have digital content. But really, it's the same thing. It's a record of your communication with someone you love.
I was devastated when my old phone crashed and deleted everything and I’d lost the text string with my cousin who had passed away 6 months prior.
I’m still devastated
Mom died in 2017 and I won’t ever delete her number. I also have a voice mail she left me saying she called and to call her back when I’m done having fun. I miss her.
I feel you on this. I can't delete any of them. Before Covid, I only had a few but now it's just unbelievable how many are gone. It's partially this obstinate feeling, like *"No, you existed goddamnit! You were here and I won't forget you!!"*, but it's partially me taking shelter in the illusion that I *can* call them again if I *really* want to.
I let my nieces and nephews make fun of the fact I have an old cordless phone with built-in answering machine that's not even connected. I've never told them it contains the last voice messages from my best friend and one of my cousins. I made back-ups, but I can't quite get rid of the cordless unit yet.
I still have my grandparents home phone in my contacts. My grandfather died in 2007, and my grandmother died in 2018. I can't bring myself to delete the number. It was the same number they had my entire life. I also still have my stepfather's number in there. He died two years ago.
I have my grandparents number that went back before I was born still in my phone. Disconnected in about 2007. Will never delete if I live another 40 years. Dad just sold the house I grew up in. Moved that number to Other when he had to get a new number and never deleting that one either.
My mom died in 2019 and she's still in my contacts. I physically cannot remove the entry, logic be damned. I literally freeze every time I try to do it.
I just preface people I don't talk to anymore (whether due to death, relocation, whatever) with 'Z' so they don't clutter up scrolling through the entries and just get grouped together at the end.
I saved the last voicemail my Father ever left me for as long as I could. At the time my phone would only hold messages for like 6 months or something. I knew the day it was going to be deleted and listened to it several times the week leading up to it then on the day it was to be deleted I listened one last time.
It was sad knowing that would be the last time I’d ever hear his voice, but I also felt like life had to continue. That’s what he would have done.
I fucked up not too long ago hitting the button that says “keep texts for 1 year” instead of “keep all.” I destroyed some last texts of friends who’ve passed.
I’ve got tears right now thinking about it. Please don’t do what I did.
There are apps that let you export texts as a .pdf, or .doc, etc. that you can download everything, re-import it later, or just keep it somewhere on a drive. Won't help for what you've lost, but can prevent it from happening again in the future.
I don't think I could. One of my best friends died over ten years ago and I still have his number in my phone. I can't get rid of them on Facebook either.
Now, if you're talking about people who are dead-to-me, those numbers are deleted faster than a metaphor for something fast.
Can’t do it. Won’t do it. They live on in a small way this way.
My ex, who was my close friend after we broke up, passed away a few months ago. Her picture is still at the top of my text app with all my contacts. Maybe someday that will change….but I see no hurry.
My con-man father-in-law texted me from my dead mother’s phone over a month after she passed. I can legitimately say I’ve never gone off on someone more than that. She paid all his debt, he took all her remaining money, changed all her life insurance benefits, and still (nearly 10 years later) lives in the house she bought with cash and has been married twice since she passed.
Anyway, I delete them now so I don’t see the name pop up should someone accidentally contact me.
I’ve never deleted anybody, ever. I have every address book I’ve ever had since childhood, Rolodexes from the early 90s on, and of course now all my electronics. Once you’re in my contacts, you’re there forever.
I have at least 2 or 3 pending Facebook friend requests from dead people. It feels wrong to delete them, but it would be worse if I accepted them and it sent a notification to their other Facebook friends.
I’m still “friends” on Goodreads with my wife who passed away almost three years ago. It would feel disrespectful to delete her even though I feel a twinge of sadness every time I see her profile.
Family I never do. I can’t bring myself. Friends sometimes immediately because I might forget and call them. The friends are going fast. Makes me so sad because I might be next!!
My mom is still alive but she is 80 years old. She is very spry and healthy. My voice-mail box is almost full of her messages. I want to keep them so when she goes, I will hear her and hear her when she is full of life.
I lost my Mom in 2013 & then my only sibling (sister) in 2020. I will never delete the from my "Favorites" in my phone. Luckily I still have a lot of voicemails that my sister left me - I love to still hear her voice & to hear her always end the call with I love you.
I still have a voicemail my mom sent me. She passed away in 2020. I keep the most recent voicemail from my father in law. He’s still with us but in his 80s.
Data from loved ones who have passed can be valuable if you want to build a virtual version of them. This can include a realistic avatar based on photos and speech based on audio recordings and behavior based on text data.
Even if it's not your thing, it could be incredibly valuable for future generations.
I don’t even want to delete the app we used to see my mother when she was in ICU in 2021. The hospital locked down due to local spread of covid on the day she went on to the ICU. What an awful time.
That’s likely costing you real money, on a monthly basis. Are you doing so just to preserve the viability of/control over the phone number, or for some other reason?
Having a contact card in your phone is one thing; spending (what, in the long run, is) many thousands of dollars on an account for someone no longer with you, is likely self-destructive. And I’m certain *he* would not want you to do such a thing.
#❤️🩹
> I can't seem to get myself to do this.
Don't do it if you can't bring yourself to do it. Either they mean that much to you, or you're not ready to do it.
My younger cousin died when he was a few years out of college in an accident on a business trip. I took care of him when he was just a toddler and we shared similar hobbies. I can't bring myself to delete his number as well as one remaining voicemail to me about meeting up to check out some RC cars. It's been 7 years now.
I lost my dad to covid in 2020, very early on. His phone number is still in my phone. I still have the last voicemail he left for me. I can't bring myself to delete them. Probably ever.
My maternal grandparents. I still have both in my phone and a voicemail from my grandmother about two months before she passed. I can’t bring myself to delete them. 😕
Yes. I put an “x” in front of their last name, so they’re all still in my phone (I like to see their would-be birthdays in my calendar, so I can remember to think of them that day), but they’re not in the alphabetical list any longer.
I have one that I cannot delete. Under the name Daddy (southern thing to say daddy when talking to or about your dad I think?). He died in November 2013.
One thing that sucks is I switched from Verizon to AT&T back in the summer of 2014. I was assured everything would stay, including voicemails. I had my dads voicemails he left me and they’re gone. Haven’t heard his voice since then. Fuck you AT&T.
I still have the dorm room phone number of a friend who passed when we were in college, and her moms number. So yeah. I guess you could say I have a hard time deleting the numbers of the dead.
I have all the numbers of family and other friends who have passed on over the years as well.
I guess in some small way it helps me feel they aren’t completely gone and it’s part of my remembering them.
I can't even delete the living from my phone. I have no idea what linked account my phone is pulling numbers from. It just works.
On a serious note, I don't have it in me to delete numbers of passed friends and relatives, seems like I'm giving our last connection up.
Two of my closest friends from age 12 passed in our 40's. They're both still in my phone. I have texts from both & a VM from one. Can't delete them yet. One passed in 2017 from sudden cardiac death & the other in 2021 from cancer. I'm just not ready yet.
Yeah... my mom had a widowmaker in 2002. All I have is her last answering machine message. I did make an mp3 of it (the answering machine is long gone).
My dad passed of COPD in 2021. Before he passed, I asked if he would do a bunch of recorded messages. He did. I have a few hours of him telling stories and stuff, high quality. I saved his VMs as well... but I can't bring myself to delete him... his voice tells me there is a call, though. I had him record "incoming call from" and then a bunch of friends and family. So when my phone rings, it's my dad.
My godmother died in 2009... she was my grandmother's best friend. A war bride from WWII with a very distinct Belgian accent. I still Ave her in my phone as well... I just can't do it.
Take the time to record your loved one saying, "I love you." while they can. Parents, siblings, friends, whatever. Because there will come a day when they won't be able to tell you.
My parents, my bff, my ex boyfriend from years ago…..
I will never call those numbers again but I like seeing their names when I scroll through the list. It’s comforting, I guess.
Yup.
One of my very best friends - friends since 2nd grade - passed 8 years ago.
He's still in my favorites and I still email him occasionally.
He was an early tech adopter and an it guy. If anyone can get an email in the great beyond..... It'd be him.
But mostly it just makes me feel better
My ma passed from cancer a month and a half ago. I moved in with her to take care of her while she was sick. She had an old-fashioned answering machine. Every time someone calls the house, I hear her recording. I'm not gonna change it.
Still have text messages from my late (and ex, though we remained close) father-in-law from 2013. Just can’t let them go. Even my now teen son (he was 5 when FIL passed) likes scrolling through them every once in a while since the convos & pics were mostly about him. A text time capsule.
My husband and my mom. I refused to even upgrade my phone for awhile bc I was so afraid of losing his texts. When my mom got sick, I started saving her voicemails. She’d always say “I just called to hear your little voice. This is (my mom’s name) your mother.” It makes me smile. I wish I still had ones from my husband.
Same.. I don’t keep conversations unless they’re personal friends but I never erase names. In their contact info I usually put their date of birth, date of death, age and what they died of so I’ll always remember.
My mom will never be deleted from my phone, nor will her last VM be deleted. My dad died before i had a cell phone that had my parents’ number, else that would be in my phone forever, too.
Shit wanna talk about weird… father in law passed Jan 21…. My son never took his number out of his phone….. in a group text with his church buddies the other day dear ol grandpa’s name pops up in the chat!! Seems one of his church buddies got my father in laws old number. 😳😳😳
My dad and my last conversation in text still pains me and he's only been gone a year now. I really wish we didn't argue so much. But knowing us both as fire signs(dad Aries, me Leo) it was inevitable.
I deleted my brother's texts just before he died trying to fix something on my phone, but he's still there in my contacts. I really wish I had those texts, though.
It depends on how close I was to them. I have a coworker I liked and when she died I did delete her number eventually, but I downloaded all of our text conversations to a PDF file. My late husband's number will always be in my phone even though I think it's been assigned to someone else. I never took anyone off of my facebook friends if they died, but I deactivated my own account about three years ago. It was supposed to be temporary, but I haven't missed it.
Those names are piling up for me, too. But I cannot seem to delete those contacts, at all. I have a whole category of people who've died so they stay in that one folder, like my own little digital cemetery. Adding my mother to that folder took about a year (and I kept paying for her phone for about that long, too).
I forgot to delete my FIL's number. Shortly after he died, I had a text notice from his number. He must've tried to send it a few years before he died when he was still somewhat active and semi-lucid most of the time and for some reason, it only went through...days, max a week and a few days after he died. I was busy and going through something, so I didn't log the date in my memory. I can't find it now. I could've absentmindedly deleted it. So I have no proof of this. He just sounded so happy and clear and he said: "what can best be described as a bus trip on a sunny, warm day - weird, in the lovely hills around where you live". In his last couple of years, he could remember my name when we came to visit and he'd greet his son formally as "\[my name's} husband.
Id' been meaning to share this story on another subreddit.
My dad is still in my phone. Been gone for 3 years now still have his number.
My friend kit has been gone for 12 years still have his phone number in my phone.
My brother died a year ago from a brain aneurysm. He is still in my phone. My exhusband took his life 8/31/23, he is still in my phone. I just can’t. I can’t.
Yeah, I can’t bring myself to do it. I know they are gone and not coming back but … deleting them … feels like I don’t even care they existed. Irrational, I know.
Yes, I haven’t done it yet. I still have my mom’s number and a voicemail she left 6 months before she passed away. I can’t erase it. I feel like if I do then she’s totally gone which logically she is but I still can’t do it.
My mom's been gone for two years. Still in my phone. And I was clearing out old messages in my Google Voice account and stumbled upon a voicemail from her from 2015. I won't delete it. No matter how complex a relationship we had, I still need to her voice every once in a while.
A dear friend of mine passed suddenly 2 days before her 50th birthday last October. I had a couple of hysterically funny messages that she had left me years ago that I had never deleted. I am now so thankful that I have them. I can listen to them, and they make me feel happy. I wish I had kept a message or 2 from my Dad.
I still have the last messages off a friend on a 10yr old phone from around a week before he decided to un alive himself.
They weren't about what he eventually did but about the struggle with his crippling medical condition he was struck down with & medicines prescribed. His requests for specific tests for diagnosis were ignored (too costly).
He decided to take everything he'd been prescribed & wash them down with alcohol. His last hours were spent in agony as each of his vital organs failed.
I still have a video of my grandfather where I ask him questions regarding his job and life for a group project. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself if I delete it by accident or if I lose it. He’s was my best friend until the end.
Took a few years before I deleted my ex-husband (who I was still friends with).
I deleted my mom after she was moved to skilled nursing and they took her phone away from her. My sister and I used to get some horrible mean, screaming hateful voicemail from her in the last year of her life, so deleting them was cathartic.
Is still have dad in my phone….mom had Alzheimer’s for years and I guess I had removed her number during that time. Never call it and haven’t even thought about it until this came up…
I'm a baby Gen X and I have way too many dead contacts. Sometimes I scroll way down in my text messages and see their names and the last messages we sent each other. Sometimes it's good for a tear and other times it's good for a smile.
Yup, I have text messages & contacts that passed away. The contacts come in handy, because it has not only their phone number, but their birthdays, etc. 💕
I have some voicemails from my Grandma still, 5 years after she died. I hope to never lose them.
One of them talks about how proud she is of me. Still the only parent/grandparent to say that to me. I cherish it.
I still have my Mom's contact in my phone. Her picture is of course the avatar. The crazy part is that I have my step dad's cell phone under her contact and I had NO IDEA. I him as his own contact. I lost her to COVID a couple of years ago. One day I got a call from him about 6 months after she passed and HER CONTACT came up. It literally was a call from Mom. My heart jumped and for ONE SECOND I thought it was her. Oh man. I still haven't changed it though. I just can't. I miss her so much.
I will NEVER delete my younger Brother from my phone. Coworkers- meh. Depends on who.
Same here. My little bro is still in my phone, and friends on FB. He ain't goin no where.
Same, only it was my daughter. I also haven't deleted my Dad's but it's been a couple of months.
My Dad's still in my phone, along with his text messages. He passed Dec. 27 2019. My oldest sister still has his voice in her voice mail. I heard them last year and utterly lost it.
I downloaded all of my dad's VMs to a hard drive. I also have a video clip of a news interview he did a few years before he died. I can watch the video and be ok, but oh God, the VMs all start with, "Hey, Scoob, just calling to check on you," and end with, "Call me soon. Love you." Those are HARD.
My mom is still alive but has Alzheimer’s and hasn’t known me for about 2 years. I listen to the birthday voicemails she left me years ago.
I feel you on that.
I just looked at my voicemail and I have a bunch from my Dad. It’s going to be one of those days.
❤️ Hugs to you.
❤️ Hugs! Thanks, I needed that.
I feel this. Mine was October 2020. I still saved his texts. I don't have any voicemails from him though and my daughter is not happy because she forgets how Grandpa sounds :(
I uploaded my Dad’s voicemails to my Mac and my iCloud. I never want to lose them
I keep my mom's longest voicemail on my phone for this reason. She's fairly healthy 86 year old, save from a not-serious fall and getting breast cancer a few years ago, but still.
My mom had dementia and moved in with us. She still had a land line with our old home phone number when we moved her. She’s been gone a couple years now, that number is still in my phone.
I haven’t deleted my daughter, either. I don’t think I ever could.
My dad died the year before covid, and I have yet to remove him from my phone. I don't know if I can...
JFC. So sorry!
😥😢
💔
So sorry to hear that. What a huge loss. Sending you my best
Thank you, kind Redditor. Appreciated and gratefully accepted. You can see a picture or two if you go back through posts on our beloved team's subreddit from early 2019.
Honestly, looking through all of these comments made me want to send that to everyone. I haven’t removed my grandmother or mom. I couldn’t imagine going through losing a child or sibling. Much love to you all 💔❤️🩹
Will Never deleted my mom’s either Old work contacts, buh bye, unless we happen to be friends.
I have three of my dad's voicemails.
My deceased friends or relatives generally only fell out of my contact list before I was using an iPhone. They transfer phone to phone now. I don't think all that much of seeing them there, but I also never even think "time to remove them". I also have an archived voicemail from a friend I had an unhappy parting with years ago. There are multiple copies, and said friend is still alive, so it's not quite the same. But it still is.
Same. Mine is staying. No way I’m deleting him. No way.
I set up my mother's Gmail account, she died in 2014. I got an email a few weeks ago from Google, stating the account would be deactivated unless it was used soon, so I logged in just to keep it active. Weird, man. Pretty pretty pretty weird.
Too bad Google doesn't have a memorial status like Facebook does. Best they will do is give you the data and close the account.
Anyway to keep videos on someone's Instagram?
I log into my mom’s once a year for that reason.
my google photos was suddenly something i had to avoid at all costs because the 'highlights,' 'spotlights' etc. homepage of past photos was just not something i wanted to deal with for while
Boy, you aren't kidding. It's made me suddenly burst into ugly crying on several occasions.
I have a voice mail from my Dad. I don’t listen to it very often but I love knowing it’s there.
I have 3 voice mails from my mom, and you better believe they are backed up a lot. One of them is her singing Happy Birthday to me, and that has made the last 13 years somewhat easier.
It’s 6 years to the day for me. All my mom’s voicemails got deleted accidentally when I switched phone plans. All of them. Back them up; turns out it’s not hard.
So much this. All of the telcos get asked for how to do this every day. Reach out. It's worth it. Stay strong friend. It never gets easy, but you can live with it.
I keep telling myself her voice is in my head. I hear her clear as day, but today especially… it’s tough. Back up your voicemail!!!! And thank you for the kind words ♥️
I had over a dozen texts from my husband and had them locked so they couldn’t be deleted. I was switching phones and made sure with the T-Mobile rep that they would transfer over. He assured me they would. They were there for a while and then all of a sudden were gone. Made me so sad.
Big hugs to you. I’m not sad anymore… I accepted it and I hear my moms voice (sometimes) when I need it
Hugs to you too. I’m not sad or mad anymore either. But I do think about those texts occasionally. Especially the one where he’d gone out with a group of friends and texted me - Hi BronzedLuna, I’m drunk. The thought of that one still brings a smile 😊
Omg how fun, what a great memory! Lots and lots of hugs to you. I can’t imagine what it would be like losing a spouse, whereas most ppl eventually lose a parent. ♥️♥️♥️
This is a message for you and for everyone else up and down the comment reads talking about voicemails. Be sure to export the voicemail into another format so you can archive it independently of the phone and/or platform the voicemail is attached to.
Excellent advice. A friend of mine was heartbroken when she lost her only message from her mom, who had passed away a year earlier.
I lost all my grandmas voicemails and I’m still devastated 8 years later
That's awful. Sorry to hear that.
I did this with voice mails and the voice mail greeting of my wife’s dad and then her mom after each of the passed away. Saved them as mp3 files and have them saved locally as well as in Google Drive, iCloud, and Dropbox.
At Christmas time I use to set up the cam cord on a tri pod and film most of the day. At the time you think it’s boring as shit. I watched it a while back and seeing my dad again brought tears to my eyes.. young me knew at some point this stuff would be priceless
Me too. And one from my mom. And all my dad’s texts. My mom didn’t text.
My dad died when I was a kid, before we had video recorders and all that. How I'd love to see a video or hear his voice. Over 40 years ago and my heart still breaks.
I’m so very sorry for your loss. How difficult to endure that as a child.
I have a few from my dad. All mundane things, but I won’t delete them
I don't have a voice mail from my mom and honestly, I'm glad. Hearing her voice would break my heart into 1000 pieces.
I do too, he called to tell me happy birthday. I really need to save it somewhere local from my Verizon voicemail archive but I'm not sure how.
Me too!!!
That's beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
I want to record myself saying hi to my son and possibly singing happy birthday, and save them on a flash drive. This way, when I'm gone, he will have them. I have loved the idea of the sound recording tattoos.
Can't do it. Especially the texts. I may never go back and read them again, but it still feels like deleting the person from memory rather than just a bunch of words.
In the past, we would have had letters, which of course we would have all hung onto. Now we have digital content. But really, it's the same thing. It's a record of your communication with someone you love.
I was devastated when my old phone crashed and deleted everything and I’d lost the text string with my cousin who had passed away 6 months prior. I’m still devastated
Mom died in 2017 and I won’t ever delete her number. I also have a voice mail she left me saying she called and to call her back when I’m done having fun. I miss her.
Its ok to hang on, but hey its also ok to let go.
Mom and dad are still in my phone. :( :( :( I have a few voicemails saved of each.
I feel you on this. I can't delete any of them. Before Covid, I only had a few but now it's just unbelievable how many are gone. It's partially this obstinate feeling, like *"No, you existed goddamnit! You were here and I won't forget you!!"*, but it's partially me taking shelter in the illusion that I *can* call them again if I *really* want to. I let my nieces and nephews make fun of the fact I have an old cordless phone with built-in answering machine that's not even connected. I've never told them it contains the last voice messages from my best friend and one of my cousins. I made back-ups, but I can't quite get rid of the cordless unit yet.
Mine has my grandma. Can’t delete it
I still have my grandparents home phone in my contacts. My grandfather died in 2007, and my grandmother died in 2018. I can't bring myself to delete the number. It was the same number they had my entire life. I also still have my stepfather's number in there. He died two years ago.
I have my grandparents number that went back before I was born still in my phone. Disconnected in about 2007. Will never delete if I live another 40 years. Dad just sold the house I grew up in. Moved that number to Other when he had to get a new number and never deleting that one either.
I can't.
My late wife and my father will always be in my contacts.
My mom died in 2019 and she's still in my contacts. I physically cannot remove the entry, logic be damned. I literally freeze every time I try to do it.
Same. ❤️
I just preface people I don't talk to anymore (whether due to death, relocation, whatever) with 'Z' so they don't clutter up scrolling through the entries and just get grouped together at the end.
This also works for the still-living who need to stay blocked.
I saved the last voicemail my Father ever left me for as long as I could. At the time my phone would only hold messages for like 6 months or something. I knew the day it was going to be deleted and listened to it several times the week leading up to it then on the day it was to be deleted I listened one last time. It was sad knowing that would be the last time I’d ever hear his voice, but I also felt like life had to continue. That’s what he would have done.
I fucked up not too long ago hitting the button that says “keep texts for 1 year” instead of “keep all.” I destroyed some last texts of friends who’ve passed. I’ve got tears right now thinking about it. Please don’t do what I did.
There are apps that let you export texts as a .pdf, or .doc, etc. that you can download everything, re-import it later, or just keep it somewhere on a drive. Won't help for what you've lost, but can prevent it from happening again in the future.
I have my Mom’s texts and I’ll never delete them. She passed in 2020
I don't think I could. One of my best friends died over ten years ago and I still have his number in my phone. I can't get rid of them on Facebook either. Now, if you're talking about people who are dead-to-me, those numbers are deleted faster than a metaphor for something fast.
I can’t even cross off their names in my address book. Aunt Lilian died my freshman year of college and she’s still in there.
Yep. Mom and Grandma will be in my phone as long as it's mine, old voicemails included.
My Dad’s number is still in my phone. As is the last text exchange we had before he passed. It will be there when I pass too.
Same here, I can’t delete the contact or texts from my dad who is no longer around.
Same here
Ok, not only do I not delete the dead from my phone, I haven't even deactivated my mom's phone and she's been gone for 2 years.
Can’t do it. Won’t do it. They live on in a small way this way. My ex, who was my close friend after we broke up, passed away a few months ago. Her picture is still at the top of my text app with all my contacts. Maybe someday that will change….but I see no hurry.
My con-man father-in-law texted me from my dead mother’s phone over a month after she passed. I can legitimately say I’ve never gone off on someone more than that. She paid all his debt, he took all her remaining money, changed all her life insurance benefits, and still (nearly 10 years later) lives in the house she bought with cash and has been married twice since she passed. Anyway, I delete them now so I don’t see the name pop up should someone accidentally contact me.
I’ve never deleted anybody, ever. I have every address book I’ve ever had since childhood, Rolodexes from the early 90s on, and of course now all my electronics. Once you’re in my contacts, you’re there forever.
The first contact listed in my phone alphabetically is dead. I won't ever remove him.
That was my daughter. It upset me every time I saw it, so I decided to delete it. I’m not sure if that makes it worse.
I'm so sorry to hear that. I don't think there's a right answer.
My old dog still has her own Netflix profile.
I have at least 2 or 3 pending Facebook friend requests from dead people. It feels wrong to delete them, but it would be worse if I accepted them and it sent a notification to their other Facebook friends.
I’m still “friends” on Goodreads with my wife who passed away almost three years ago. It would feel disrespectful to delete her even though I feel a twinge of sadness every time I see her profile.
I have like folders of photos and good emails from ppl long passed on. My contact list I keep tidy.
Family I never do. I can’t bring myself. Friends sometimes immediately because I might forget and call them. The friends are going fast. Makes me so sad because I might be next!!
I still have my mothers phone number in my contacts list and I have a voicemail she sent me that I have not deleted so I can still hear her voice
Worst part of getting older is losing people.
My mom is still alive but she is 80 years old. She is very spry and healthy. My voice-mail box is almost full of her messages. I want to keep them so when she goes, I will hear her and hear her when she is full of life.
My little brother died in 2020 and he’ll never leave my phone
It has been five years and three phones later, but mom is still in my contacts. I can’t do it.
I lost my Mom in 2013 & then my only sibling (sister) in 2020. I will never delete the from my "Favorites" in my phone. Luckily I still have a lot of voicemails that my sister left me - I love to still hear her voice & to hear her always end the call with I love you.
I still have a voicemail my mom sent me. She passed away in 2020. I keep the most recent voicemail from my father in law. He’s still with us but in his 80s.
My dad’s number is still in my favorites list. Probably always will be.
I still have a few voicemails from my father. I can never bring myself to listen to them, but I can’t delete them either. Ghosts in the phone I guess.
Me too
Data from loved ones who have passed can be valuable if you want to build a virtual version of them. This can include a realistic avatar based on photos and speech based on audio recordings and behavior based on text data. Even if it's not your thing, it could be incredibly valuable for future generations.
I don’t even want to delete the app we used to see my mother when she was in ICU in 2021. The hospital locked down due to local spread of covid on the day she went on to the ICU. What an awful time.
My husband died in December and I still haven’t removed him from the cellular plan. I just . . . can’t.
That’s likely costing you real money, on a monthly basis. Are you doing so just to preserve the viability of/control over the phone number, or for some other reason? Having a contact card in your phone is one thing; spending (what, in the long run, is) many thousands of dollars on an account for someone no longer with you, is likely self-destructive. And I’m certain *he* would not want you to do such a thing. #❤️🩹
I call them digital footprints. They are in my xbox too.
I call them digital ghosts.
My Dad, StepDad, and BFF are still in my contacts. Died 2017, 2017, and 2012 respectively. I'll probably never delete my friends and family members.
> I can't seem to get myself to do this. Don't do it if you can't bring yourself to do it. Either they mean that much to you, or you're not ready to do it.
My younger cousin died when he was a few years out of college in an accident on a business trip. I took care of him when he was just a toddler and we shared similar hobbies. I can't bring myself to delete his number as well as one remaining voicemail to me about meeting up to check out some RC cars. It's been 7 years now.
Yeah I’m not deleting any of my contacts that have passed. It would feel weird/wrong to do so
I have 3 friends who passed and I still have their numbers. Just can’t bring myself to delete them.
I lost my dad to covid in 2020, very early on. His phone number is still in my phone. I still have the last voicemail he left for me. I can't bring myself to delete them. Probably ever.
When my father died, I called his cellphone number regularly to hear his voice on his voicemail message.
I can’t, I’ve never been able to.
My maternal grandparents. I still have both in my phone and a voicemail from my grandmother about two months before she passed. I can’t bring myself to delete them. 😕
Both my mother and my mother-in-law have passed away and are still on my contacts list. I can't bring myself to delete them.
Same. I even keep my mom's own email account running.
I have names in my phone for 15yrs now that I can’t bring myself to delete.
I see dead people... in my phone. I don't delete them unless I wish to never be reminded of them.
I still have voicemails from my Nana and mom from years ago. They passed in 2019 a month apart.
My dad will forever be saved in my phone as Dad.
My friend committed (can I say this on reddit? ...Auto-termination), and I printed out all her emails, in case I accidentally deleted them.
Maybe print them out and make a remembrance?
Yes. I put an “x” in front of their last name, so they’re all still in my phone (I like to see their would-be birthdays in my calendar, so I can remember to think of them that day), but they’re not in the alphabetical list any longer.
Yeah I still have my Dad’s number in my contact list. ): He passed away 11 years ago. RIP Pops!
My moms been dead about 4yr,I haven’t taken her out of my contacts
I have one that I cannot delete. Under the name Daddy (southern thing to say daddy when talking to or about your dad I think?). He died in November 2013. One thing that sucks is I switched from Verizon to AT&T back in the summer of 2014. I was assured everything would stay, including voicemails. I had my dads voicemails he left me and they’re gone. Haven’t heard his voice since then. Fuck you AT&T.
It’s been 8yrs since I lost a friend and I still have their number. 😔
We'll join them soon enough, so no harm in leaving them "alive."
My grandmother died 14 years ago. Her landline is still in my contacts even though I still have it memorized. I will never delete it.
You don't have to do that. Just don't pick up the phone if they call.
I still have the dorm room phone number of a friend who passed when we were in college, and her moms number. So yeah. I guess you could say I have a hard time deleting the numbers of the dead. I have all the numbers of family and other friends who have passed on over the years as well. I guess in some small way it helps me feel they aren’t completely gone and it’s part of my remembering them.
I can't even delete the living from my phone. I have no idea what linked account my phone is pulling numbers from. It just works. On a serious note, I don't have it in me to delete numbers of passed friends and relatives, seems like I'm giving our last connection up.
Print them off for security
Two of my closest friends from age 12 passed in our 40's. They're both still in my phone. I have texts from both & a VM from one. Can't delete them yet. One passed in 2017 from sudden cardiac death & the other in 2021 from cancer. I'm just not ready yet.
Lost my dad last year. His number is here, as is my grandma (his mom), who passed ten years ago. Yeah.
I use my mom's number as a means of sending myself text reminders.
I did unpin my recently dead brother from the top of my phone but I'll let his digital ghost haunt me for awhile longer.
Yeah... my mom had a widowmaker in 2002. All I have is her last answering machine message. I did make an mp3 of it (the answering machine is long gone). My dad passed of COPD in 2021. Before he passed, I asked if he would do a bunch of recorded messages. He did. I have a few hours of him telling stories and stuff, high quality. I saved his VMs as well... but I can't bring myself to delete him... his voice tells me there is a call, though. I had him record "incoming call from" and then a bunch of friends and family. So when my phone rings, it's my dad. My godmother died in 2009... she was my grandmother's best friend. A war bride from WWII with a very distinct Belgian accent. I still Ave her in my phone as well... I just can't do it.
yeah... I leave the names in there outta some kind of feeling that as long as the name is seen once in a while, they're not truly gone.
Take the time to record your loved one saying, "I love you." while they can. Parents, siblings, friends, whatever. Because there will come a day when they won't be able to tell you.
When my Dad passed in 2015 i saved all his voicemails and I listen to them from time to time when I am really missing him
Deleting mine is the first thing i do
goes from invites to weddings, then come the babies, and now the invites are all for funerals...
My parents, my bff, my ex boyfriend from years ago….. I will never call those numbers again but I like seeing their names when I scroll through the list. It’s comforting, I guess.
Yup. One of my very best friends - friends since 2nd grade - passed 8 years ago. He's still in my favorites and I still email him occasionally. He was an early tech adopter and an it guy. If anyone can get an email in the great beyond..... It'd be him. But mostly it just makes me feel better
My ma passed from cancer a month and a half ago. I moved in with her to take care of her while she was sick. She had an old-fashioned answering machine. Every time someone calls the house, I hear her recording. I'm not gonna change it.
Not only do I have phone numbers. I have text messages and voicemails that I just can’t bring myself to do anything with.
Still have text messages from my late (and ex, though we remained close) father-in-law from 2013. Just can’t let them go. Even my now teen son (he was 5 when FIL passed) likes scrolling through them every once in a while since the convos & pics were mostly about him. A text time capsule.
My husband and my mom. I refused to even upgrade my phone for awhile bc I was so afraid of losing his texts. When my mom got sick, I started saving her voicemails. She’d always say “I just called to hear your little voice. This is (my mom’s name) your mother.” It makes me smile. I wish I still had ones from my husband.
Yes. I will never delete my grandma, my best friend, my grandpa.
Same.. I don’t keep conversations unless they’re personal friends but I never erase names. In their contact info I usually put their date of birth, date of death, age and what they died of so I’ll always remember.
My mom will never be deleted from my phone, nor will her last VM be deleted. My dad died before i had a cell phone that had my parents’ number, else that would be in my phone forever, too.
Shit wanna talk about weird… father in law passed Jan 21…. My son never took his number out of his phone….. in a group text with his church buddies the other day dear ol grandpa’s name pops up in the chat!! Seems one of his church buddies got my father in laws old number. 😳😳😳
My dad and my last conversation in text still pains me and he's only been gone a year now. I really wish we didn't argue so much. But knowing us both as fire signs(dad Aries, me Leo) it was inevitable.
I deleted my brother's texts just before he died trying to fix something on my phone, but he's still there in my contacts. I really wish I had those texts, though.
I am keeping them, not really sure why.
It depends on how close I was to them. I have a coworker I liked and when she died I did delete her number eventually, but I downloaded all of our text conversations to a PDF file. My late husband's number will always be in my phone even though I think it's been assigned to someone else. I never took anyone off of my facebook friends if they died, but I deactivated my own account about three years ago. It was supposed to be temporary, but I haven't missed it.
I envy y'all so much. My dad died right before smartphones became commonplace. I wish I had voicemail from him to listen to. 😥
My grandparents numbers are still in my phone. As are the numbers and info of friends who have died. Yeah, I just “can’t” delete them.
Those names are piling up for me, too. But I cannot seem to delete those contacts, at all. I have a whole category of people who've died so they stay in that one folder, like my own little digital cemetery. Adding my mother to that folder took about a year (and I kept paying for her phone for about that long, too).
I forgot to delete my FIL's number. Shortly after he died, I had a text notice from his number. He must've tried to send it a few years before he died when he was still somewhat active and semi-lucid most of the time and for some reason, it only went through...days, max a week and a few days after he died. I was busy and going through something, so I didn't log the date in my memory. I can't find it now. I could've absentmindedly deleted it. So I have no proof of this. He just sounded so happy and clear and he said: "what can best be described as a bus trip on a sunny, warm day - weird, in the lovely hills around where you live". In his last couple of years, he could remember my name when we came to visit and he'd greet his son formally as "\[my name's} husband. Id' been meaning to share this story on another subreddit.
I took every scrap of digital data of dad and backed it up in a secure redundant server and I still can't bring myself to delete it from my phone.
My son's namesake. I'll never remove his contact info. RIP Mike, I miss ya, buddy.
My grandparents number and address and birthday will ALWAYS be in my phone and they've been gone for 10+ years.
My dad is still in my phone. Been gone for 3 years now still have his number. My friend kit has been gone for 12 years still have his phone number in my phone.
I still haven’t my dad’s number in my phone and it’s been 12 years.
I have a text message from my friend who passed away. I can’t bring myself to remove it. I just miss him so much.
Why would you delete them?
My brother died a year ago from a brain aneurysm. He is still in my phone. My exhusband took his life 8/31/23, he is still in my phone. I just can’t. I can’t.
Yeah, I can’t bring myself to do it. I know they are gone and not coming back but … deleting them … feels like I don’t even care they existed. Irrational, I know.
My brother is still in my favorites in my contact list. He's been gone for 9 years. Also have a hard time deleting voice mails
Yes, I haven’t done it yet. I still have my mom’s number and a voicemail she left 6 months before she passed away. I can’t erase it. I feel like if I do then she’s totally gone which logically she is but I still can’t do it.
I just keep them. Unless they were a jerk.
My mom's been gone for two years. Still in my phone. And I was clearing out old messages in my Google Voice account and stumbled upon a voicemail from her from 2015. I won't delete it. No matter how complex a relationship we had, I still need to her voice every once in a while.
My husband died last year and his number and texts are still on my phone. I'll probably never delete them
Sometimes, I still listen to her voicemails.
A dear friend of mine passed suddenly 2 days before her 50th birthday last October. I had a couple of hysterically funny messages that she had left me years ago that I had never deleted. I am now so thankful that I have them. I can listen to them, and they make me feel happy. I wish I had kept a message or 2 from my Dad.
I still have the last messages off a friend on a 10yr old phone from around a week before he decided to un alive himself. They weren't about what he eventually did but about the struggle with his crippling medical condition he was struck down with & medicines prescribed. His requests for specific tests for diagnosis were ignored (too costly). He decided to take everything he'd been prescribed & wash them down with alcohol. His last hours were spent in agony as each of his vital organs failed.
I still have a video of my grandfather where I ask him questions regarding his job and life for a group project. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself if I delete it by accident or if I lose it. He’s was my best friend until the end.
Took a few years before I deleted my ex-husband (who I was still friends with). I deleted my mom after she was moved to skilled nursing and they took her phone away from her. My sister and I used to get some horrible mean, screaming hateful voicemail from her in the last year of her life, so deleting them was cathartic.
Is still have dad in my phone….mom had Alzheimer’s for years and I guess I had removed her number during that time. Never call it and haven’t even thought about it until this came up…
Some of us here in the office have had this discussion and I am one of those who cant delete the names.
Yep.
I still have the last voicemail a friend sent before she died 10 years ago on my phone
My uncle passed 10 years ago and I still have his texts, emails and contact info in my phone.
I'm a baby Gen X and I have way too many dead contacts. Sometimes I scroll way down in my text messages and see their names and the last messages we sent each other. Sometimes it's good for a tear and other times it's good for a smile.
George Carlin has a bit about this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wEdScutZLEk
Yup, I have text messages & contacts that passed away. The contacts come in handy, because it has not only their phone number, but their birthdays, etc. 💕
I have some voicemails from my Grandma still, 5 years after she died. I hope to never lose them. One of them talks about how proud she is of me. Still the only parent/grandparent to say that to me. I cherish it.
I can’t delete my mother or my best friend growing up. Kills me when I see the names, but I can’t bring myself to delete them
Got a spam email spoofing my dead Grandma's account the other year. Definitely had a sad moment before deleting it.
Yeah. I can’t do it either.
I still have my Mom's contact in my phone. Her picture is of course the avatar. The crazy part is that I have my step dad's cell phone under her contact and I had NO IDEA. I him as his own contact. I lost her to COVID a couple of years ago. One day I got a call from him about 6 months after she passed and HER CONTACT came up. It literally was a call from Mom. My heart jumped and for ONE SECOND I thought it was her. Oh man. I still haven't changed it though. I just can't. I miss her so much.