.
"Any group of persons
cousins, grand parents"
So says the dictionary.
Our definition of family
extends beyond
biological relationship,
to encompass those
whose friendship
and love has been
proven by time and
distance and through
hardships.
There have been ups
and there have been
downs, but
Yes, the bonds hold, but... to be kept alive they need
to be fed. The food is called contacts.
Of course contacts are not the only thing,
but certainly an important one, especially
when family's members are separated
by countries and continents.
In the Good (?) Old Times, when cars
were a luxury and planes out of the
reach of normal people, there
were two ways to keep in touch:
snail mail and the good old wired phone.
Remember the days
spent waiting for dear
old postman and his
antiquated car, hoping
he would bring the letter
we were longing for,
and then, for a cup of coffee, a little chat on the latest village gossips?
Remember the hours sitting next to the ancient
telephone, patiently waiting for the operator
to call back and proudly announce that he had
established the connexion?
Today's kids don't even know that such world
existed, how could they?
Telephone operators are only mentioned in history
books and the charming GranMa telephone
has been replaced by a flat little plastic thing
called "cellular" which, excluding making coffee,
can do about everything else including,
if necessary, behaving as a telephone
As for mailmen, they are sporty kids who rush in
and out like racing drivers, gone before get a
chance to say "Hallo!", let alone the cup of coffee
and the little chat.... Anyhow, they only deliver bills.
In a bygone millennium, maybe even another life
(it was 1963) a 22 year old named Bob Dylan
was singing that The times they are a-changin'.
They did, Bobby, ans so did did the way to keep the contacts.
Thanks to the modern technology you can cummunicate
without pen, paper, postman, even without a phone,
at least the one with two ends.
And, dulcis in fundo, all for free! (well, sort of...).
See? No excuses left not to keep in touch.
Miraculous, technology? Well, yes, we could say so.
But how comes that I have some doubts about the outcomes?
If you listened and liked the song that accompanied this page,
go to the Keeping in Touch page to see if you share my skepticism...
Or is it nostalgia?
