gracias.

Today I am thankful for video chat.

This has been my main means of communication with Josh over the past five months and without skype and google chat, we would have mostly been limited to email. I have spent much time complaining about the poor connection and the frustrations we have had when trying to video chat. Sometimes it felt that trying to have a conversation was most difficult than just not talking at all. That's how I felt after broken connections and hangups that took up about 40 minutes out of every hour and I think it's true that in some cases it would have been better just to not even try! However, it has been good to use video chat with Josh even though it is rare that we get through a conversation without any trouble and even more rare that we get to use the video function!
Today I was able to skype with my mom while she's in Malaysia and she gave me a whole tour of the gorgeous place she's staying in. It's amazing to be able to share something visually with another person even when they're miles away! We're also able to stay connected with my grandparents who have frequent skype chats throughout the day with their family members.
I was also reminded of the value of this technology today when some parents were saying their daughter knows her cousins in the States via their interactions on skype. Even in the Gilchrists' home skype (or the equivalent apple program, ichat) is used at least once every other day to talk with Julianne's parents. It's great that the girls' grandparents can interact with them when in person visits aren't able to happen very often.
As simple as it is, I'm thankful for this piece of technology that helps us stay connected with family and friends throughout the globe. Of course in-person visits are preferable but when distance prevents that from happening, it's great to have such an accessible alternative. Maybe when we're able to communicate via holograms, or better yet, just transport across the world, we might look back and laugh about how simple video chat seems. But for now, I am thankful for it.