Burning Up The Phone Lines

Last night I checked my email to find a message from a good friend from my college days (1973)...
Oh crud, I always thought people were old who used the words from the ____ "DAYS". Now here I am doing it!
But actually, Jennie, who lives in Phoenix, and I have kept in contact and we try to connect about every 4 to 6 months.

Anyway, in the email, Jennie was asking for confirmation that a mutual friend of ours had died. Apparently she had discovered this information when she was bored and decided to look up old acquaintances on the www. and googled our friend, Susie. My answering this kind of question by email didn't seem appropriate so I punched Jennie's number on my phone. It was tough to call her to give her the details of Susie's passing because they weren't pretty.

As we talked, we reminisced a bit. I think I tend to "freeze frame" the people from "my past" and remember snippets of who they were when I saw them the last time..even if it's been a month or 30 years...my "freze frames may look like:
Is the person still 120 pounds; laughing hysterically at their own jokes (hmmm..that might still be ME); playfully fighting with their boyfriend, Harold; flippin' burgers at Joe's;sliding into home face-first; wearing the lampshade on the head without anything else; playing guitar at the Maplewood Inn; eating pizza with peanut-buttter; smokin' a bit of wacky weed now and then; a republican?

Talking with Jennie last night was great, as usual. We not only gave tribute to Susie, but we also recollected random old stories and events and wondered together how _____ is. That was nice. We continued chatting but now it was about new stuff, which is even nicer.
Before I called Jennie, I was feeling lousy with remnants of a cold, but after I hung up, I felt great.

I freeze frame the thought that talking long distance USED to (in the "OLDEN DAYS") cost about 50 cents a minute! I know you young whipper-snappers can't imagine THAT, but it's true.
What was extra special last night was that I could talk with Jennie for free! Well, I have unlimited long distance with my phone package so it FEELS free.
So, why don't I call her more frequently?

And why didn't I call Susie more often?