Thought for the Week

I have often thought that age is a strange thing.

I find it hard to imagine my parents younger than I am, and as I get closer to the age at which they died, I wish I could just have one more conversation.

I am not really sure what I would say, other than to thank them for the love, the time, the fun and the wisdom they shared with me.

Maybe I would ask them to jump into our life as it is now – just for a few moments – with all the technology, the social media, the world of internet and emails, and ask them what they think about it.

We have enjoyed the next generation staying with us over the holidays, and have realised just how much of their time has been spent looking at their gadgets.

Life now revolves around iPads and Kindles, text messages and social media, and conversation often does take second place.

And, of course, we are all guilty of spending time on our devices rather than with each other. It is so easy to get caught up in cyberspace. So as I think of my folks and wonder what they would have thought about this, I think I know.

They would not have understood the need to have a conversation online rather than face-to-face.

They would not have considered sitting isolated in their room using FaceTime rather than calling round to their friend for quality time.

So, while we love our gadgets and their easy access to our friends, let us always remember to call in person, to take time with those we love and to share the air, rather than the airwaves.