Virtual visit
Teleconferencing brings families together
Two years ago, Steven Michaels of Naperville, who was 20 years old at the time, was spending his first holiday away from his family as a Marine serving in Iraq. A festive holiday mood for his parents and twin brother seemed unlikely.
They had a better Christmas than they had thought possible, thanks to a program provided by Benedictine University and the Freedom Calls Foundation that allowed Steven to have an hourlong teleconferencel with his family shortly before Christmas.
"We were able to talk to him and see him for an hour and they recorded it," said his mother Kathie Michaels. "It was the best Christmas gift I possibly could have had. He had called a few times with a calling card, but actually seeing him made all the difference in the world."
Kathie Michaels said holidays are traditionally a big family time for them.
"When you know someone won't be around for Thanksgiving or Christmas, it drags the season down," she said.
"This was the next best thing to actually having him home. They gave us a copy of the video of the whole hour and on Christmas Eve we played it over and over and over again."
Rudy Dardy, the audio-visual coordinator for the IT Department at Benedictine, implemented the teleconferencing program with Freedom Calls shortly after the university purchased a video conference unit. Realizing it could be used for more than just academic purposes, Dardy sought ways to make it available for community service.
As an Air Force veteran Dardy said he knows the importance of staying in touch with loved ones, and was delighted to learn of Freedom Calls which helps service men and women talk with their families. The organization worked with him to get his system connected to three bases in Iraq.
Lisa Ripley of North Aurora said teleconferencing with her husband Walt while he was in the Navy in Iraq was especially important for her kids. Ages 4 and 6 at the time, the children had difficulty grasping their father's absence and worried about his well-being.
"It was important for my kids to be able to see him," she said. "He was on a 50-inch screen at Benedictine."
Teleconferencing also made him feel more connected with their day-to-day activities.
"They could hold up their books, show him what they drew," she said. "He could read a book to them live. They couldn't physically hug him but they could see him right there."
Ripley, who is a software engineer, eventually set up the same system at her home so family members could visit on a more regular basis.
Dardy said Benedictine has had the system for about two years but it remains seriously underutilized. He'd like to change that, especially with the holidays coming up.
"We're trying to let people know about this capability that we have. And it's free," he said. "It's really nice and I want more families to use it.
Dardy said he'd also like to see volunteers sign on to talk to servicemen and women in Iraq who may not have any family or friends stateside. He tested a system at a base in Iraq with such a young man. Talking with him for 30 minutes, Dardy said, was an emotional experience.
"Here he is, seeing other families talking to their loved ones, and even though he was the person running the site, there was no one for him to talk to here," Dardy said. "If I can figure out a way, I'd like to have students spend a few minutes of their time shooting the breeze, talking about sports, stuff like that. People don't understand how much this means to these guys. Spending 15 minutes with them feels like a lifetime to them."
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