Musings from a middle school reading specialist. I encourage my students to read, talk, write, and have fun!
I parent two amazing young-adult daughters with my husband of 30+ years.

March 17, 2013

Keeping in touch SOLC #17


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Two Writing Teachers

It's funny.  As a teenager, I used the phone.  A lot.  We had to get call waiting the day it was available in 1985 because my grandfather tried to call our house the night I had one of my 2 hour talk fests with a friend. Grandpa was a patient guy, but that busy signal put him over the edge.

If you needed an ear, you called me.  I would listen and talk and talk some more.  I made phone calls when I babysat, letting my cousins talk with my friends.  In high school, I got math help over the phone, and I've done some serious major matchmaking, too.

As much as I chaste my teens to "Put the phone down and get your work done!" I'm guilty of a lot of phone and screen time myself recently.


During the past two weeks I've managed to reconnect with six people I haven't talked with in months or years.  It seems like the months between Christmas and Easter become a quiet time around here.  There's no family birthdays to pull us together, and the weather makes us want to stay inside.

I've had some news to talk about, so my friends and family have been calling, or I've been reaching out via email. I've also had some friends pop up and make comments on Facebook, out of the blue.  I've asked for them to check their calendars and find time for us to catch up.

Spring reminds me that no matter how long it's been since we last talked, today is a good day to start again.  Some of us will be able to pick up where we left off.  With others, it will just be a one-time conversation, then we'll go back to our busy lives and reconnect in the future.

It's important to keep in touch with the important people in our lives.

7 comments:

  1. I agree! I think that is one reason Facebook is so popular. At least at my age, it gives me a chance to connect with people who no longer live in the exact same location that I do. Although, I do think that it is just as important to chat one-on-one with people, too. Good for you!

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  2. I so agree! I have a 'love-hate' relationship with Facebook, I must admit. I love that I can keep contact with family and friends who live far away, and yet the phone is so much more personal. I hope your news was the good variety. Thanks for the reminder to focus on the people that matter.

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  3. I too miss phone calls. E-mails and other messaging formats are great, but there is just something about a personal call when you can hear the other person's voice. You can detect their tone, hesitations, anxiety, joy and excitement. Here is to phone calls and keeping in touch!

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  4. Ah, and those connections are so important. Someone to just listen. Someone to give you advice. Someone who knows someone else going through the same thing. Someone who knows a doctor. Someone that is saying an extra prayer every night. God puts people in our lives for a reason. Enjoy reconnecting.

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  5. I remember that my dad used to set the timer on the stove to limit my phone calls. I could have spent the whole night talking to friends. Now we can do the phone, Skype and Facetime all at the same time! I can only imagine how many timers my dad would have had to set.

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  6. I've never been much of a phone person -- in fact, I still harbor a slight fear of calling people on the phone. I do love connecting with friends and family through texting and email though. I've been kind of bad about not keeping in touch with those special people much this year... you have given me a nudge to do better!

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  7. I think modern technology has given us "a way out" of actually connecting with others. Phone calls are important and face to face is even more so. At least on the phone you can listen to hear the tone in their voice and it is so much easier to just share news and catch up. While I'm on the phone a lot a work, I find myself not wanting to pick up the phone at home. But what joy I find when I do. Enjoy catching up with family & friends.

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