Technology on a Sunday Afternoon: Virtual space maintains actual connections

Family visits on Sunday afternoons often rely on technology these days.  Now that we don't live within driving distance, Skype sessions with grandparents are a new norm.  A text from my brother, "you there?" precedes a phonecall that results in a quick chat to catch up with the family.  Later in the day, or perhaps tomorrow, I'll text my sister to say hello and send a HUG -- I'm really not much for talking, but it's great to reach out and stay connected.  The draft on Sunday, however, took the whole "staying connected" thing to another level.
Joe and I rushed home from the grocery store after church two weeks ago Sunday, just in time for the 1 p.m. Fantasy football draft.  Bob was connected to his HP laptop, Matt sat on the couch with his MacBook Air, and Joe went bounding upstairs to the iMac to log in and get started.  Online, via Skype was Uncle Mike (in LA). But Google hangout allows for multiple participants for free, so.... Matt was generating invites as the draft began.
"Your team is on the clock" echoed upstairs and down.  I could hear all three computers, and the unknown voice inside the machines helped me keep tabs on who was picking when.  The "old" HP froze and cost Bob a pick or two, so he switched to the iPad, leaving the computer up for Skyping once it rebooted.  In between the smack talk and laughter, the boys were choosing teams, separate but together, participating in a visit and an event despite the miles that separate LA from Chicagoland. Grandpa lives in Tennessee and the Frasco cousins are in Maryland -- they were invited to the video call, but focused only on the draft.  We were bicoastal, with one foot in the midwest and another in Dixie.
As the hour went by, I heard Matt giving Uncle Mike step-by-step directions for shifting from the Skype call to Google+.  Once the four of them were all in the same chat room, the fun really began!  Matt, as the initiator and chief IT guy for the forum, started using special effects -- sounds and sights to make us laugh and perhaps even distract from the task at hand.  Ensuring productivity, "Your team is on the clock," announced repeatedly from around the circle.  Occasionally, I heard an "oh shoot! It's my pick."  Other times it was, "who's left?"  There were party hats and viking horns floating on top of heads in the hangout, and plenty of echo-y sound effects that proved annoying for some, but generally just entertaining.
This level of visiting, despite the distance really took me back -- to the days of casual visits with purpose; when relatives lived nearby, and you never knew who would drop by, but you were always glad to see them.  That Sunday,  I was reminded more of our in-person time, with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents as our mostly-empty house echoed with the laughter and fun only family shares during the rarest and yet most normal of occasions-- being gathered in one place.  Only this time, the one place was virtual.  Virtual space providing actual connection... think of that!