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Last week produced a series of pleasant surprises by way of long-distance relatives making contact. First, we got a call from Michael, who now lives in Kalispell, Montana. He is Duane's adopted brother and had lived with Duane's mom and dad since he was a toddler. Duane was already out of the house by that time. Michael is deaf and usually the process to talk on the phone was long and tedious. Now, however, there is a cool new system whereby the interpreter views Michael on a video screen as he signs or speaks (Michael's speech is reasonably clear) and then relays it to us verbally. Michael can also see the interpreter, so there is a rapid, natural interaction between all parties. Before the interpreter and Michael were typing back and forth, and then the interpreter would speak it to us. Very slow and tedious and pretty much stifled any real communication. We had not talked with Michael for a few years, although we would email now and again. It was nice to catch up on family news and events. Michael and Patsy may come for a visit in the summer.
My daughter, Tammy, also had a brother-in-law from out of state knock on the door and had opportunity to spend the afternoon with him and his family. They had dinner together and so another family connection was renewed.
And then I got an email from a cousin and caught up on all the news of family in Ohio. We used to see each other fairly regularly, but since my Dad died and Mom moved to Kentucky, we have not been back to Ohio. So it was good to hear from him again as well.
We are scattered all over the country and so it takes some doing not to drift away and lose track of each other. That's another nice thing about blogging - what an easy way to keep in touch. My hope is that they will drop by my little "blog house" by the side of the cyber-road and visit now and again. Welcome, all!
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Posted by penguin on 2007-11-14 20:45:13 | Rating: | Views: 66
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