"This year, I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to Milwaukee to spend Christmas with my dad, and he was really disappointed. Luckily, I had recently convinced him to buy his first laptop. On Christmas Day, I called him from my home in Phoenix, and talked him through the process of setting up his webcam. Two minutes later, we were looking at each other live! He called my stepmom into the room, and they were both in awe, like they were making their first phone call ever!

The video quality was great—we were both on wireless DSL—and I got to watch my stepmom open her presents and show them mine. It was a wonderful moment of being connected, and just another example of how technology can bring us closer to the people we love."