When I first moved to Houston, TX in 2002, I was many miles from my family in Winterville, NC (1285.64 miles, 19 hrs 28 minutes, to be exact).   Instead of it taking months for messengers to travel by horseback to deliver a hand-written letter from me to my parents, they were able to hear that I was doing quite well here, in my new home, via rapid modern technology.  Those technological advances in 2002 have since been improved and have made long distance relationships even more viable.  We have cell phones with cameras, computers with internet and email, text messaging, and my favorite–web cams.

     I would love to see my two-year-old nephew more often.  My brother, who hasn’t seen his niece since Christmas season last year, would love to see my daughter.  So, we have a dilemma.  They live in Raleigh, NC and we don’t.  So far, I have made sure that, no matter what, I go home for a few weeks at the end of December.  If I am able to visit or if they can visit me other times throughout the year (I visited four times in 2006), that would be bonus.  However, with the price of airline tickets skyrocketing, budgeting for a flight is more challenging these days.  We all know what gas prices look like, so driving our own or renting a car is out of the question.  There is no telling how often we will see each other now.  What do we do in the meantime?  How do we stay close when we live so far away from each other? 

     In addition to the myriad of digital camera photos we have sent via email, lengthy telephone conversations, addiction-like text messaging, and surprise gifts via postal mail, we are able to communicate via webcam.  My brother recently bought me the MEElectronics USB 2.0 Web Camera so that we could all see each other more often.  I am sharing this ingenious and inexpensive piece of technology with you in hopes that you will use similar means to keep up with your own long distance family.  More information can be found at:  http://www.meelec.com.

MEElectronics EEZcam Z-1 Webcam MEElectronics EEZcam is the ideal PC camera lets you add video to your Internet communication … Price: $24.99

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