"If absence were measured in terms of the heart...

...friends would only ever be a minute apart." So says the small picture that's been hanging in our kitchen at home for as long as I can remember. Although the picture shows two girls mailing letters to each other, I was thinking today about how this seems to apply even more to modern forms of communication.

Although I used AIM a lot in undergrad, I have come to appreciate it even more now. While it will never replace having a phone conversation with someone or getting to see them face to face, it's a wonderful way to keep the people you care about as a part of your day-to-day life. Even if the conversation isn't any longer than a few lines, I find that it causes me to feel that people who are hundreds of miles away aren't so distant after all. A brief story about something that has happened that day, a few words of encouragement, a link to an interesting article or video, or a quick question about how my day has been going always manage to brighten my day and break up the monotony that studying sometimes becomes.

Anyway, point is, you all are wonderful, and I really love having such an great way to keep you as such a central part of my life.