How to Text Message
I get to write about “brotherhood” and “collaboration” all the time, but I don’t always get to show off the people in my life who’ve made “brotherhood” such a powerful term.
So I thought I’d drop in a sample of the texting banter that goes on between my brother David and I in the course of a week.
These are pictures of my beautiful niece that he texted me from their vacation and a snapshot of the commentary that followed.
* * *
Me: So you gave Grace to some people who live in a castle?
Me: Oh well, at least we still have Abby.
Dave: Yeah, she said she’d rather live with them.
Me: He does seem way happier than you.
Dave: Probably. He had a fake fu man chu.
Me: Please don’t tell Chuck they make those.
Me: She’s doing way better with the characters, huh? (she used to be afraid of them)
Dave: Seems to be. The princess was a real person. She was a little hesitant with Chip and Dale.
Me: Six foot tall chipmunks should raise a person’s suspicion.
* * *
I know joking back and forth via text messaging might not be the most inspiring thing in the world.
But in the texting, we keep connecting–even when we’re not in the same place. And in the connecting, the teaming we once experienced in the day to day–playing kickball in the backyard, crawling through the closet that connected our rooms, that one year of high school and college we were enrolled in at the same time–lives on.
How to Text Message?
1. Share photos and videos of your life with the people you love. When my son received the automatic baseball tee below for his 2nd birthday…and promptly began using it as a glorified ball mover rather than a batting aid, I sent the vid to my brother and dad. It wasn’t an important moment, but it was a comical piece of Justus’ development that they might not get to observe otherwise.
2. Write from your personality. Text messages are short, but they don’t have to be emotionally shallow. Joke around. Keep it fun.
3. Remember what people tell you about their lives and text to ask about it later. Did they have to give a presentation? Did they go to a little league game? Staying up on what is going on in their lives allows you opportunity to live life together from a distance.