Wednesday, November 09, 2011

email

Today I am thankful for that simple invention of email.  I'll go ahead and throw in the whole Internet as well, but while I may be thankful for the Internet, it is not for the same reasons as I'm thankful for email.

Anyone who has known me any length of time realizes that I am horrible about keeping in touch with people.  I don't write.  I don't call.  I don't stop in and say hi.  And I'm extra good about not doing anything for birthdays or other holidays either.  Due to this wonderful lack of communication, I have lost touch with several dear friends over the years.

Anyhow, there is one invention, while at times quite annoying has actually helped me.  This is email.  It is extra quick and easy for me to send a few lines on their way to a friend or family member to inquire about their well-being and give a quick little update on my own life.

Of course, when I love this the most is when I have family and friends far away.  And while Jon and Becca may be on the other side of the country, right now I have two very dear friends who are on the other side of the world.  One most definitely in harm's way, one hopefully not.  As much as I respect what they do and am happy that they love their jobs, I know that being so far away from friends and family stinks.

So, I have two little reminders (see above about me not being good at remembering to write) on my email.  One is set up to remind me twice a week to email Michelle, the other two to email Steve.  And, thankfully with the fact that email can transverse the distance in mere seconds instead of the month or more that a physical letter or package could take, I can keep in contact with two people who mean so much to me and are so far away.
I hope that I can occasionally bring a small ray of sunshine to their days.  Especially Steve, who, quite frankly, has a dangerous job in a dangerous area and then the added stress of not knowing what's going on at home.  I can at least provide him a little normality with my "nothing new is going on here, I hope you are well" emails.  I know I liked getting those kinds of emails when I was on the road all the time, and I was just in the country and home most weekends, not halfway around the world for a year or more at a time.

Anyhow, since I actually listened to the reminder on my desk this morning and emailed Michelle and tried to catch her up on the last few weeks of doings in our house, I'm very thankful for this little invention called email.  I may not use it often enough to communicate with those that I should and I may complain about how much work email I get on a regular basis, but without it, I would be oceans away from friends and they'd hear even less from me, and I from them.

I bid you peace and may you never loose touch with those you love.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I don't always get over here to read your blog...but when I do I find it's always interesting and well written. Just wanted you to know. :-)