I’m a communicator so I’ve always tried to keep in touch with my friends and family. When I first moved to the US overseas phone calls were expensive and hardly anyone had a computer. (Well, that gives away my age doesn’t it!) Cell phones were the size of a large briefcase and weighed pounds; not exactly mobile. We wrote letters and waited two or three weeks for them to be delivered. Ahhhhh the good old days!
But the world of communication has changed and I have a couple of very good examples to share with you to prove the point. A few weeks ago I got a Facebook message from a friend I went to dancing school with back when I was four. What could I tell her about Murray State University? Now, that’s an odd question from a woman who lives in Portsmouth, England, so I told her as much as I could and directed her to various websites. Then I asked why she was so curious about MSU? “Emma has been invited to join the track team,” she told me. Emma, her eldest daughter, is 18 and has been running for years; apparently she’s good enough to attract the attention of the coach at MSU. Before I had the chance to even get onto SKYPE and talk to the family about the offer I got another message. “We talked to Coach (on SKYPE) and Emma accepted…she starts in August!” Incredulously, of all the places that Emma could have chosen for school she has ended up not 50 miles away from one of her mother’s oldest friends! ‘Auntie’ Karen is going to be busy next year making sure Emma gets a nice home cooked meal once in a while and that her mother isn’t worried sick about her.
My second example comes from my 89 year old Mum and my 86 year old Uncle. My mum’s laptop has a camera and when my sister is around to encourage her, (and insist she roll her ‘hover round’ up to the desk,) she will talk to me on Google Chat. She’s always happy to see if my hair is growing, the new “wellington boots” I got for Christmas, or wave at the dogs. My sister chats and shares what they have been up to all week. It really feels as if we are not quite so far apart. Uncle Bob is much more technically oriented and often checks to see if I am online and available to chat. Unfortunately, the time difference and this magazine get in the way, but we manage to speak every week or so. He’s really fun to talk to and we have developed a wonderful relationship over the net!
Britt, my husband, is ‘old school’. He is still a firm believer in a hand written thank you note or a nice card and I certainly agree with him that nothing replaces that personal touch. But while letters were great back in the day, I like the fact that I can now see my friends and family and hear their voices. It’s really nice to speak with my grandson in California and see the new kitten he got recently. I still think it’s amazing that I can ‘Facetime’ with my daughter, or best friend Cheryl, right on my phone. So, if you haven’t taken the plunge into virtual communication I recommend giving it a try. But for my Aunt Edna, who will never embrace ‘modern technology’…I’m writing you a letter.
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