For the majority of my life, it's been a source of consternation. Mostly because not many people ever called me.

Yes, there have been phone calls from friends and boyfriends throughout the years, but most of the calls I answered weren't for me.

They were relatives calling for my parents to say hi from Fifty Lakes or howdy from San Antonio, or the library calling to tell us our books were overdue, or the relentless barrage of the swarming telemarketers asking us if we wanted to switch to AT&T. (Do I hear a groan of agreement?)

Back in the day of telephones with cords and before the blessing of being able to screen calls with an answering machine, you always had to stop whatever you were doing and run to the phone whenever it rang.

Whether you were vacuuming, napping or watching a really good movie, one telephone call would interrupt the entire pace of the day.

Even now, when I'm at home during the day, I refuse to answer the house phone right away. Most of the time it's just telemarketers, and they usually don't leave messages.

I guess I never really liked the phone because I never had anyone I really wanted to talk to. Everyone I needed or desired to talk to was either at home with me or I would see at school the next day.

I think that all changed when I went to college and people weren't as close as they used to be. Let's face it, Mom and Dad were a lot farther away.

That's when I really started to appreciate the capabilities of the telephone. I could call my mom when I was sick, and she would remind me to check my temperature, take medicine and drink lots of fluids.

I could call my dad for a little pep talk when I was feeling overwhelmed, and I could call my sister to hear how the old high school was doing.

I kept in contact with a few of my really good friends also on the phone.

Now, I'm back at home, but I'm really far away from some of the people that mean the most to me.

My five girlfriends from college are spread from Madison, Wis., to Minot, N.D., and Arizona to Colorado. The closest one is more than seven hours away.

We all met our freshmen year and have been as thick as thieves ever since. It has now been six months since I've seen any of them - the longest we've gone without seeing each other since we met.

Just tonight, I was reminded of the power of the telephone when my best friend called all the way from Colorado, and it was like we were in the same room.

There were times when we were on the phone and, without even talking, we knew what was on the other's mind.

Even though we are more than 1,000 miles apart, it's still like we're in the same room when we are on the phone.

So, my hat's off to you, Alexander Graham Bell.

Thanks for making it easy to bring Colorado so close by only dialing a few numbers.