It is incredible the level of connection that one can make just via mail. Years ago, letter writing was the primary form of distance communication; and it could take days, weeks for a letter to traverse the country, much less the world, yet people seemed to still maintain relationships. Remarkable.
Today, one can have instant gratification with the internet. One can send words, audio, photos, videos which only makes the virtual seem more real.
So last year for two weeks I was disconnected from the soldier with whom I had been writing. His computer died and thus, so did communication. However, because his computer had crumped, he could not let me know why I was not hearing from him. I knew that several of his peers had recently been killed in action, so I worried. And I worried more. I had seen photos of his family; I had heard tales of his life....he was a real human in a dangerous place. So even though I didn't really "know" him in my real world, he was a part of this world and I worried. I can not describe the sense of relief I had when one day I opened my email and there was an email from him with the heading "Hello Again."
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