Reach out and touch someone

Remember the old telephone slogan "Reach out and touch someone"? That was back when people were starting to use the telephone more and more to contact people. I remember growing up, my grandmother used to write to her sisters each week and place it in the U.S. Mail. And each week she would receive a letter from them. The unique thing is they only lived about 45 miles down the road. But back then, long distance was not an option and computers hadn't quiet caught on.

Sometimes I long for those days. The quiet evening we would sit on the front porch and swing or better yet the Sunday afternoons we would spend on the back porch. The whole family would come over (my grandmother had 7 children and they would bring all their children) and the kids would line the steps and let our feet dangle off the porch and eat slices of watermelon.

Flash forward to today. People just don't gather together except maybe at Christmas or Thanksgiving. Everyone is too busy. And forget, getting a hand written letter in the mail from a friend. Today it's text message, cell phones, my space, and facebook.

I can't deny it. I am a facebook addict. I started my facebook page about 9 months ago just as a networking device. But before I knew I was being contacted by old friends that I grew up with and even a few childhood boyfriends. It's nice to see their faces and even better the faces of their children. Sometimes you remember someone as the bully or class clown and never stop to think they have probably changed as much as you have. And my how some have changed.

Another high tech gadget I have become a fan of is the web cam. My mom bought me one several months back. We live 4 hours away and she wanted to be able to see me and the children more often and thought this would be a good way to do so. This weekend we had our first web cam video call. And I have to say it was fun. She had a rough 2008 with health issues and is now on the road to recovery. This was great because I was able to actually see her and how she was looking not just guess by her voice. Not to mention my ear was not red at the end of our talk. You see my mom is a talker. When she calls I'm on the phone for at least 45 minutes to an hour. So not having to hold the phone that long was a nice added benefit.

I guess my point is the "good ol' days" were just that and it never hurts to sit down with pen and paper and drop a note in the mail to a friend or invite family/friends over for watermelon. But with today's technology we now have many ways to stay in touch and really we have no excuse not to check in with friends/family.

Who will you contact today?