I woke up bright and early on Tuesday morning. I had been home from college for four days now, and I was still getting used to having no schedule. Today, though, I had to get up early to drop off my brother at school with mom before running some errands and going to an appointment I needed to attend with her. My phone had been plugged in all night, but I got in the car only to realize that it hadn't actually charged. In the middle of checking in on social media and attempting to respond to emails I'd been worrying about, my phone died. My brain began to spiral with worries thinking about how I was going to message my boyfriend this morning, how I was going to finalize plans to visit former teachers the next day, and how I would know what time it is or check on information I needed that I'd written down in my notes app if I had to. This went on for a few minutes, until I reminded myself of the fact that there was nothing to be done but accept that my phone was dead, and would stay that way until I got home.

I spent the day with my mom. We perused the aisles of an Asian supermarket searching for egg roll ingredients, and I was able to take in the exotic smells, the texture of a large fruit we couldn't identify, the whistle candy we discovered, and the laughs we had when she tried to Google names of things she didn't know. We went to Stop-&-Shop where I acted as my mother's notepad and memorized her list so she wouldn't forget the Skittles she needed for her next Elf-on-the-shelf plan for my little brother. I bought us lunch at a place we usually order out from, and we talked, and enjoyed Pizza rolls, cheese pizza, and chicken.

The day I spent with my mom being dragged behind her while she ran around taking care of everything was a rarity I seldom get to enjoy anymore. Each time my thoughts strayed to a worry or passing thought, I had the urge to reach for my phone and check it, but then I remembered it was dead. Not having my cell phone glued to my hand brought a sense of tranquility over me. I had no worries until it was recharged, no need to browse social media. All I could do was enjoy everything I was doing, everything that was around me, and my mother's presence.

I had no distractions from good laughs and conversation, pretending to whine and be grumpy when I had to get out of the car or walk around stores for long periods of time. My dead phone enabled me to appreciate the rare day I got to spend with my mom. Between college and running around, I didn't know just how much I'd miss spending time with her. This experience taught me that instead of staying stuck in my head, my world, and my technology, I need to stop worrying, ignore my messages and calls for a little while, and enjoy every little moment. We should turn our phones off more often, because we may not realize it now, but the moments we do not want to forget will pass us by, and the little things we'll miss will be what we regret later on.