Donald's old phone no longer works, but it preserves his connection to the day he lost contact with Helen.
Donald once used the phone to check the time while waiting to meet Paul Thurman. At the convention it displayed a network error amid heavy demand, and six messages remained unsent. A message from Helen eventually arrived saying that she was at Tennessee. Donald remembers the malfunction as what prevented him from contacting her on the day the bombs fell.
He recovers the old phone from the pocket of his stored slacks, but it no longer turns on. He shows it to Anna Thurman while questioning her about the day he lost contact with Helen.
A recovered personal possession central to Donald's recollection of his separation from Helen.