Last Tuesday night, I had a date with my 9-year-old niece, Emma, to work on a 200-word essay describing who her favorite president is (Lincoln) and why. At stake -- a $50 savings bond from a local bank. So, despite my being in Columbus and Emma residing two hours away, at the appointed hour we hooked up via Skype and spent 90 minutes discussing what she knew about Lincoln, what she admired about him and hammering together her 200-word response. We were able to see each other, converse naturally and send edits back and forth via instant messaging. It was great fun for both of us (and a relief to her Dad, who would have had to step in, if I wasn't available).
It made me a little ashamed that I haven't used Skype more to converse with family living in a Turkic republic. When I was a child and my parents were serving on the mission field, we typically spoke to our maternal Grandma twice a year. She called a short-wave operator, who radioed another operator, who called us. When you spoke, the delay was long seconds and you had to say "over" when you were done speaking so that the short-wave operators knew when to open and close their mics. And it wasn't cheap! And, even though I don't Skype with that part of my family often enough, I'm thrilled with the little daily flavor I get of their lives through facebook posts and pictures. And I'm thrilled to see encouraging posts and receive encouragement from my Fab Five buddies online, as well.
I'm thankful for technology and how it enriches our lives and interactions.
Or maybe I'm just extra interested in justifying my new iPhone.
Probably both.
1 comment:
I love that you have this type of relationship with all your nieces and nephews. It's very cool!
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