my friend Reimar in Westphalia, Germany

When I was a child back in the 1940s, people used to say the time would come when we'd be able to see moving pictures of the person we were talking to on the phone. By the time I was a teen in the '50s, I didn't think that was too cool an idea. I mean, who would want to be seen with your hair up in rollers and your pimples uncovered by make-up? Well, now that day has come thanks to Skype, and at 67 I no longer care how I might look to my callers. Just being able to visit with my friends is good enough for me.

But what I could not have imagined was that Skype would be free -- at least to those of us with broadband internet access -- and that it would mean I could talk with persons from around the world. I guess back in the 1940s and 50s, I couldn't have imagined I'd even HAVE friends who lived in almost every time zone on the planet. Or that I would have met these folks not in person but on the computer. How times have changed!

So, for the past three weekends, Reimar Ott and I have been Skyping one another. We'd already been email buddies but this is SO different. It really is like sitting across the kitchen table and shooting the breeze. And for me, it's been a special joy to see Reimar's progress in recovering from the facial paralysis that came on suddenly on Wednesday, September 9. Each week the left side of his face is becoming more plastic again. This week he could even wrinkle his brow on both sides!

There may be down sides to this technological age, but this is definitey an UP side. Anything that brings people closer together is to be celebrated. Let's hear it for Skype!