This article, entitled Losing your electronic crutch comes from Kristi Davis at fruitamoms.com

I lost my phone a couple of weeks ago and I think I may have died a little.

I didn’t realize how attached I have become to this little piece of electronics until it was gone. My phone has become the center of everything I do. It holds schedules, pictures, notes and everything in between.

I went out the next morning without my phone in quite a funk and did some shopping. Instead of having my keys and my phone in my hands when I walked in the store I only had my keys. I also carry a bag with me at all times, but there is something about having that phone in my hands; it is like my security blanket.

I couldn’t get on my Shopkick app and get my points for walking into Target. I love Shopkick. I get points for walking into stores and I can redeem them for gift cards. I felt lost, I couldn’t look into my notes and look at Christmas ideas and the list of sizes I have there for my boys.

As I wandered the mall, all I could think about was the stuff that I potentially lost. I would lose all of the text message and voicemails my husband had sent to me. I keep them just so I can go back and look at the sweet things he says to me. I cherish them the way some people cherish old birthday cards and now they were lost to me.

I would also lose my pictures. I back them up regularly, but I had the feeling I would lose something I had not backed up. I use my phone as my regular camera because I tend to take horrible pictures and the phone ones I can jazz up with Photo Toaster and make them look half-way decent.

I was defeated by the whole thing. It was my stupidity that I lost my phone in the first place and I just felt terrible. How was I going to buy a new phone and make it feel like the one I had lost?

I really have taken for granted how big of a crutch my phone has become. I have let a little box take over my life and I was not sure what to think about it. On one hand, I enjoy all that technology has brought me. I can print pictures directly from my phone, find a recipe for dinner and track my periods all in one place and often at the same time.

The other side of that is that I was using this little “magic box” as the center of all I do. I couldn’t even go shopping on my own anymore. I sulked and stewed for a while longer and after a while my phone was located. My darling husband found it after some searching, and I could not have been happier. I would tell you where, but it is a bad story and that is for another time most likely over cocktails.

I had my little keeper of me back in my possession and my whole outlook changed. I felt whole again and had my arsenal of apps and phone tricks up my sleeve. I would like to say that I am going to try to unplug and try to do things without depending on my phone. Let be real, though: Instead I just found a better app to locate it next time.

Kristi Davis is married with two sons. She blogs regularly for fruitamoms.com.