We'll miss you, Uncle Jim

I got a series of emails yesterday evening about the unexpected death of my mother's brother, Jim. Here I was, on the other side of the Altantic, and I knew about the death right along with the other cousins. It's amazing how family can organize in times of great sorrow.

My mother and her husband are on vacation, however, and no one at home in St. Louis had their cell phone numbers. Strangely enough, yesterday was the day that I finally decided to buy a modem that connects to the Internet through cell phone towers (Wana). It was when I came home yesterday evening and plugged in the modem for the first time that I read the emails about Uncle Jim. I was able to send my mother's cell phone number to her St. Louis-based brother, who in turn contacted her that very day.

Everything this happens for a reason. I can't explain why I got Internet yesterday afternoon, why I didn't wait until today or next week. If I hadn't gotten that modem, I wouldn't have been able to communicate with the family and to pass on my mother's cell number. And I wouldn't know. And so, I'm struck wondering how the family would have handled this without the use of modern ICTs.

Of course, I'm sorry that I can't be there with my family at this very sad time. Uncle Jim was a dear man (who even, I'm delighted to mention, visited me once in Dijon many many years ago), and his death is truly a loss for us all. Uncle Jim, we'll miss you very much.