If I had to give up all my apps except one...no, wait. That's an unreasonable premise to start with.
If I had to start deleting apps off my phone in order to make room for some never-to-be-repeated-moment that I had to capture on video right then with my phone, then I would rather mercilessly start sending scores of them to the burn pile.
Except one.
One app I would keep because it contains a whole history of conversations between my sister and I.
When Andrea moved to Scotland, I rather quickly started looking for apps that would allow us to text back and forth without it costing a small fortune. Surely the app geniuses had come up with some way to have free conversations with people no matter their geographic location?
Indeed they had.
There are a slew of apps that do this, but I picked KakaoTalk for its humorous name (Andrea and I say it with various accents) and easy interface. We can text, send photos, and she can send videos to me (but not the other way because her Droid doesn't speak iPhone).
Looking at our chat history you could figure out pretty quickly we have a tendency to the ridiculous.
Babies with light sabers make excellent diversions from writing or grading papers.
As does crafting with cat hair. I can't wait to see these creations at Andrea's local farmers market. True, she does not own a cat, but she lives in an urban area. Stray cats are numerous and once you pick the fleas out I'm sure the hair is perfectly craft worthy.
Speaking of cats...
I'm always sending Andrea pictures of cat beds that line the aisles of my grocery store. I always wish she was next to me so we could laugh together, but sending her a picture is the next best thing.
Mostly, though, we use the app to send voice messages to each other. The app puts a 40-second limit on each voice message, so we usually end up sending about 6 voice messages to each other at a time. Our lifestyles (and budgets) don't usually allow us to have regular phone conversations, but quick little "I'm walking down the road and thought I'd say hi to you," voice messages are perfect for us.
[And if you're wondering why we don't just Skype? Firstly, her Internet connection is not good enough to Skype. Secondly, 90% of my conversations with her are done while I'm driving to school since it is pretty much the only time in my day that has big chunks of uninterrupted time.]
Lately, our favorite thing to do is send podcast-length voice messages to each other, ones that I listen to and give to her on my 75-minute commute. We ramble on and on, and it's surprisingly freeing to have these kind of conversations. Because of the nature of voice messages, we don't interrupt each other or get each other off topic. We just talk about regular everyday stuff and podcasts we've heard, and then the other person responds in her own lengthy voice message. It's like she's there in the passenger seat, and we're just talking to pass the time.
I miss my sister so much. Every single day. I miss not having her go grocery shopping with me. I miss our Portland adventures, our Starbucks coffee runs, our road trips, our morning runs through neighboring farmland. Though we are not what you would call "two peas in a pod," we are rather fond of each other nonetheless. And we sing songs to each other...only using the word "meow." Because we are awesome like that.
I can't fly to Scotland whenever I want. And she can't fly here whenever she wants.
But some funny named app lets us hang out with each other every week despite the distance, chatting with each other as I drive to school. It's not your conventional kind of road trip, it's true. And it's not your conventional kind of phone conversation, I admit. It's still pretty cool, though, and it's the best option we have. Plus, anytime I want to hear Andrea's voice, I can just play back one of the many voice messages she's left me.
My dear sissy pissy, meow meow meow.
Oh, and also? Next time she's in town, I'm making her do the driving.
