Family Sundays, International Style

When I was 13, my family moved to Germany where my parents taught in an international school. At the time, international phone calls were still very expensive so I kept in touch with friends and family through letters. When I was 18, I returned to the US for college. My first year away I spent almost as much on phone calls back to Germany as I did on books. I didn't start using email regularly until I had my first real job a few years later, by which time my parents had moved to teach in China. Email became our primary form of communication. When I moved to Australia a few years later, we began to iChat. After my son was born, I started keeping a blog about his adventures.

The dilemma of my international lifestyle and marriage is that no matter where I am, there is somebody that I miss. But over the course of almost 25 years, the heart-wrenching distance has become virtually shorter and shorter. We're back in the US now, and every Sunday after breakfast, my children dial up their Granny Annie and Grandad John via Skype Video and exchange the very important information that is unique to grandparents and grandchildren. Despite more than 12,000 miles, 12 time zones, and a once-a-year visit, they are able to have a close relationship.

The other developing technology phenomenon that I have thoroughly enjoyed is social media, particularly Facebook. Most of my friends in Germany were military brats who have all since scattered to the four corners of the earth with long out-of-date contact information. In the last 18 months, however, via Facebook, we have all managed to find each other again. It seems we all kept in touch with two or three people who kept in touch with two or three more people and so on until I know where almost everyone is and how they're doing. It has surprised me just how happy having these connections again has made me. In a life that has involved so many good byes, all these hello agains are wonderful.

Why I am telling you all this? To illustrate the point that Skype, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs —  the seemingly infinite number of new social media — are all truly powerful communication tools worth your time and effort. This is why all of us here at Kilpatrick Design keep steering you in that direction. It's why we link up your website, your Facebook, and your Twitter accounts and nag you about blogging. These resources aren't just for friends and family, they have developed into tools that have added an entirely new dimension to networking and created an entirely new expectation for the immediacy of communication. You no longer have to wait until the ad comes out in the Sunday paper to tell your customers about your brand new product or service. You can tell them right this minute, in real time, with images — maybe even in person via video. I see it in action every Sunday morning — excitement is contagious!