Bridging the Distance

My mom flew back to the US yesterday after spending a month or so here, including the holidays. Well, it didn't really feel like she was leaving for a faraway place, so there was really no drama or sad feelings upon her departure. The same goes when my dad comes home and goes back to the States. My brother and I feel like they're just going home to a house on the next block or in another city nearby.

Thanks to technology, I don't really miss my folks so much. Whenever we see each other every year or every few years, it feels like I just saw them the other day. What with phones and the Internet which enables voice chat and even web cams, it's really so easy to stay in touch with loved ones. Whenever I talk to them, I feel like they're just in the next house. I get updated on everything that's going on with them and vice versa.

Gone are the days of lining up at the PLDT office to make long distance calls. We (my mom, my brother and myself) used to this in the early 80's when my dad worked in Saudi Arabia just because phones were not yet installed on individual homes (It took some 10 years later before we had our own residential phone). Other than that, we relied heavily on snail mail, telegrams and voice tapes. Gosh, does anyone still use voice tapes? ha ha...

Anyway, even email is fast becoming the the least preferred mode of communication -- at least in my book. I'm really lazy in reading and answering emails. Well, mostly because Internet chat is so much easier, faster, more fun and more interactive, and if friends can get on chat why the need for emails?