Changes in technology...changes in relationships?

My thoughts strayed far from the Bend this week as I cruised to several Caribbean Islands aboard the Celebrity Summit.

I traveled with my mom, Theresa, and we had a great time.  This was our fifth cruise together and I really like to travel with her, we had a lot of fun girl time.

On the way home, I couldn’t help but reflect on our vacations and flash back a little to my adolescent years. At the age of 15, if you would have told me that 22 years later I would choose to vacation with my mother, I would have told you that just wouldn’t happen! Yet, 22-years later, that 15-year-old who used to look at her mother with squinty eyes and an attitude, was having a few cocktails and laughing so hard with her that I had tears streaming down my face.

I’m fortunate to be able to see both of my parents just about every weekend during the warmer seasons in Indiana.  They live on a lake and I like the sun! And of course time at “The Haven Resort” is a lot of fun with other relatives nearby. 

While a short 30 minute drive to LaPorte makes a difference in how often I see my parents, I couldn’t help but think about how technology has changed the way relationships are today.

When I was in college, bag phones were the only cell phones that were somewhat affordable and each call cost a minimum of something like 25 cents a minute.

Long distance was still the way you made out-of-town calls and picking up the phone was something most of us did rather sparingly. I’m starting to feel old as I write this!

Now, with e-mail at the fingertips or most, Skype loaded on tons of computers and cell phones with practically unlimited plans for texting and talking, it’s so easy to pick up the phone and stay in constant contact with friends and family.

I talk to my mom nearly every day and it makes the time she spends in Florida seem almost as if she was just in LaPorte.  It’s nice to keep up with day-to-day happenings and I think it would be weird to go back to the times where long amounts of time went between our calls.

It makes me wonder what they will come up with for future generations… technology gotta love it!