Hi Micki - my son Michael also did a tour of duty in Iraq - got home just before Christmas and is now out of the Army for good. Thank the Lord. We stayed in touch with Michael from Germany to Kuwait to Iraq using Yahoo Instant Messanger. It was a true Godsend so if you aren't using it - try it. It's free from Yahoo. My son had his own laptop so it was easier for him to be able to I.M. when he had a chance but I know the guys over there share so if your son doesn't have one I'm sure someone does. You can even buy a very inexpensive headset with microphone and talk to him just like on the phone - but it's FREE. Now while he was in Iraq he was not allowed to use the voice feature but while he was anywhere else he could. So instead of having to type, you can just talk. We set our p.c.s at work, my shop, home all to ring a loud and distinct ring if Michael signed on. Everyone in the family had a Yahoo account. When one person saw him on, they would contact everyone else. Before you knew it we had our own family reunion chat room going on including exes and their new spouses. It really brought everyone together. So if you don't have it - try it - go to Yahoo.com and download it for free - instant messaging is free and so is voice messaging. I even got ones of those little p.c. cameras and set it up so he could see me, hear me, and type messages in our family reunion chat room. There is also an option under Preferences that you can change the default setting and tell it to save all mesages. That way you can read them over and over later. Sometimes the words were flying so fast with so many people online at once that it was hard to keep up with so I can still go back and read them. I will probably save them forever. I will be praying for Jasan. If he already has a Yahoo I.D., let me know what it is and I'll have Michael stay in touch with him.
