This reminds me so much of my father, Bruce. My father told me that when he died he would try to contact me by phone to speak to me of what it felt like to be dead. For weeks after he died, I rushed to the phone every time it rang, half chiding myself for my credulity, but also secretly excited by "what if..."

Well, I never did hear from my dad, although I speak to him often in my dreams. And the memory of his hopeful belief that he could call me from beyond the grave is a memory that never ceases to touch me.