I’ve been trying to clear out some of my old phone contacts – friends and workmates who I haven’t called in years, people I don’t like, and people who have died. In the end, I didn’t delete any. Partly (mostly) because my list of contacts would dwindle and look less than impressive, but also because I think of my contact list as a kind of autobiography and actually like to be reminded of people from the past whilst scrolling through my phone numbers. With regards to dead friends and relatives, I don’t know, I can’t delete them. Not that there’s a huge amount of dead numbers, maybe three or four, but even so, I get a slight shock every time I scroll past their numbers, as if suddenly realising I can no longer phone them and remember they’re no longer with us. Ah, that’s the key word: I remember them.