383. 10 years ago this would have been almost impossible
My mom calls and speaks to the twins nearly every day. My dad is the same. Not just via voice, but via video.
Yet 10 years ago this would have been almost impossible. Although Skype was launched 13 years ago it hadn’t really become popular. I remember that every time I wanted to speak to my parents I would have two options.
- They would have to get an international calling scratch card thing from China Town which would give them X number of minutes to call me
- My mobile network provider had a scheme where if you dialed “132” before the international number you could call landlines in certain countries for almost the same price as a local mobile call
Fast forward 10 years and now my parents can literally see the twins growing up. They get the interact with the twins in a way that a simple telephone call doesn’t allow and the twins get to know their grandparents too.
I can video call my parents on their mobiles so even if they’re out of the house they can see the twins. 10 years ago I couldn’t even call them on their mobile because the cost was so prohibitive. Even sending them a text (SMS) to see if they were home was considered expensive.
For my parents, the twins, and I it’s a really wonderful experience that my parents can be so involved from the other side of the world. They really are a part of the twins’ lives even though they’re so far away.
So thank you technology and the people behind it for bringing my family closer together :-)
