Pony Express

I was thinking yesterday about how things have changed and how I've taken them for granted. Before I started this blog, my family (sister!) used to always complain that I never emailed photos of the kids to them. I always responded that it was just a pain to go all the way upstairs to the computer to send them. But then I started thinking about communication and how it has changed how we live.

When I was a kid living in Holland in 1976-77 (is that right???), there was no VOIP, no Skype, no Webcam. Just Ma Bell and her monopoly. She could charge whatever she wanted for a phone call, and did. There was no email, just regular mail. And photos, all taken with a regular camera, had to be mailed. So I think we're pretty lucky that, even though I live an ocean away, I can still share so much about our lives with my family and friends.

Michael's family had a relative emigrate to the US a couple of generations ago. When that happened, it usually meant that you would never (or practically never) see those family members again. It was just too expensive and time-consuming. Now I complain if I don't get to visit home at least once a year. My, how we've grown spoiled as the world has grown smaller.

When I first moved to Germany, I moved to a small town with 20,000 residents. Coming from the NY area, it was a rude awakening. Stores closed at 2:00 pm on Saturdays, not to reopen again until 9:30 or 10:00 on Monday morning. As a couple without kids, we usually slept until 12:00 and had a leisurely breakfast, only to RUSH to the store to get basic food for the weekend. (The fridges here are too small to stock a lot of goods). Now that I live in a larger city and shops are open until 8:00 pm, I consider myself pretty lucky. And I like that everything is closed on Sundays. It helps keep at least one day a week just for the family and quality time together. Would I still think like this if I had never left NY? I don't know, but I appreciate how I can blend parts of my old life with my new.