Facetime or Skype distant friends and relatives regularly

“My 85-year-old mother had a recurrence of cancer. We lived many miles apart. On one of my visits, we went to the phone store and I helped her pick out her first iPhone. It was so awesome to watch her learn to text with her friends. I could FaceTime her from my home while I got my life in order so I could return to take care of her. That phone was a literal lifeline during her last months – a source of joy, a tool for coordinating her care, and a reassurance for me that I could actually see daily how she was doing. [...] I love it when we both have time to just hang out together via FaceTime when we can’t be there in person.”

“We mostly talk with family, and I totally credit video chatting with letting him form relationships with grandparents that he only sees a few times a year. Frequently interacting with them over FaceTime has made it less awkward when we see them in person; we haven’t had to reintroduce family members to him,” Feinstein says. “I’ve never been much of a phone person, but video chatting feels so much more intimate—almost like I’m having an in-person conversation with somebody.”