by Kevin G. Summers
I
have friends all over the world and that wouldn't be possible without submarine cables and unreliable 3G coverage from my cell phone provider.
My best friend from middle school lives in Boston, but we are able to talk about our kids or the new iPhone just as if we still lived in the same neighborhood. I exchanged numerous emails with a friend in Italy who helped with some of the content of this issue.
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My uncle in New Hampshire sent me pictures of a 10 point buck that my aunt shot up in the Great North Woods. It was almost like I was there, except I didn't have to help with the butchering. A young lady that I mentored is now touring all over the United States in a professional production of Mama Mia. I'm able to keep up with her if she's in Florida or Ohio or even the people's state of Michigan.
I met a new friend the other day, a fellow author who lives on a farm in Texas. We talked about raising hogs and writing over morning coffee from over a thousand miles away.
It's amazing to think of how we can communicate with people across town or across the world now and we think so little of it. From my office in Virginia, I can reach out and exchange ideas with someone on the other side of the world.
I have another friend with whom I'd lost touch after high school that has moved to South Korea to teach English as a second language. We had a nice conversation the other day about old times.
I just did. I sent an email to somone in China. China! I couldn't do that when I was growing up. We wrote letters and hoped they wouldn't get lost in the mail as we waited and waited for a reply. Not
to say that I don't enjoy the occasional piece of real mail, but having the ability to communicate so easily, so quickly, has changed the world. So, gentle readers, I'm challenging you to use this amazing technology for good. Reach out to someone that you haven't talked to in years, someone that might need a friend, and tell them that you care. Tell them that someone in Amissville or Paris or Honolulu or Cape Town is thinking of them. Do it now.