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God, that's a horrible feeling, isn't it? Occasionally I'll forget to turn my phone ringer on after classes (I don't have a landline either), and inevitably those are the days my mom tries to call me. She still freaks out when she can't reach me -- and I don't blame her, it's been less than two years. At the same time, though, those freakouts hurt. Even now, when I have absolutely nothing to feel guilty about, I get that nasty guilty "I let Mom down" dread I had constantly when I was drinking. So we made a deal: I will do my best to answer my phone, I'll let her know in advance when I won't be available, and she will email me and give me an hour or two to respond before freaking out. So far, it's worked: I'm never far away from my computer, so she doesn't have to wait long for me to reply. And I try to keep in mind that I worried my family sick for a very long time, and they're still healing (as am I).
Maybe you can work out something similar with your family? As important as it is for us to cut our families some slack in the worrying department, there are always going to be times when we just can't be reached, and those old ghosts of distrust do hurt. Making some sort of deal for those situations might ease your family's minds a bit.
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