This is a wrong-number voicemail I received in the Spring of 2007. Since then I've listened to this hundreds of times, memorizing every line and beat in the process. On my Verizon cell phone I had to press '9' to save the message from being deleted every two weeks, for five years. Then twice when I changed phones and carriers, I forwarded the message to my new voicemail before deleting the old account.
I never found out what happened to the couple. If Cassandra ever got the message. If their parting was amicable or disputed. If they ended up staying together. But I think of them often. All I know is that the call was placed to a phone number in central Ohio.
So here I am, ten years later, wishing them well, hoping Cassandra found love and companionship, hoping the caller is happy with his new person. It seemed like the right time to finally share this, and now--a decade later--I can finally delete the voicemail from my phone.
