You're at work. Your wife is at the store. The kids are at school, and your mother is across town.

Something big happens. The phone lines jam up. Your cell is at 10 percent.

Quick question: what's your daughter's phone number? Not the name in your contacts. The actual number.

Most of us don't know a single one by heart anymore.

Everybody's cell number, plus work and school numbers. Add the doctor, the pharmacy, and a neighbor who has a key.

Make copies. One for every wallet and every school backpack, and one on the fridge.

Choose one relative or friend who lives in another state. Everybody in the family checks in with that person.

After a disaster, a long-distance call can sometimes get through when a local one won't. And it means one person keeps track, instead of everybody calling everybody.

When the network is jammed, a text often gets through when a call won't. Keep your messages short.

One right outside the house, in case of a fire. The mailbox, or a neighbor's tree.

One outside your neighborhood, in case you can't get home. A church, the library, or a relative's house.

Decide who checks on your older relatives. Make a plan for the pets. And find out your kids' school emergency plan, including who's allowed to pick them up.

The plan only lives in one person's head.

If that person is you, and you're the one nobody can reach, then nobody knows the plan. A plan only works if everybody knows it.

Two things. Ten minutes and one phone call.

First, write the contact list. Make copies and hand them out at supper.

Second, pick your out-of-town contact. Then call them and tell them they've got the job.

Got a question, or a lesson from your own life? Hit reply. I read every one.

See you next time.

— Cole