Good Samaritan Society – West Union

Jun 17, 2011

(West Union, IA) - Randine Evenson’s daughters, Kathy and Kristie, have been using Skype, a free online software that allows users to chat via video, since 2005. At the time, Kristie was living in Budapest, Hungary. This year, as a birthday gift to their mother, Kathy and Kristie donated a Web camera to Good Samaritan Society – West Union where Randine is a resident. With a new web camera, staff members were able to set up a Skype account.

“My daughters still try to pull surprises on me, even though they are married gals,” says Randine.

Skype has become an important tool to help Randine communicate with her daughters and their families.

Kathy lives in St. Paul, Minn., with her husband, Mark, and son, Aeden, who just completed kindergarten. Kristie lives overseas in Split, Croatia, with her husband, Peter, and 4-year-old son, Marin. With distant travels an obstacle, Skype enables Randine to visit with them regularly and mark the growth of her two young grandsons. Randine has not seen Kristie’s family in more than two years, yet modern technology allows her to play an active role in their lives.

In addition, while traveling overseas years ago, Randine got lithium poisoning and lost some of her fine motor control. Writing to family is very difficult for Randine. She says Skype is the gift of independent communication for her.

 “These new conveniences are easy to use,” says Randine.

If you would like to communicate with a loved one at Good Samaritan Society – West Union via Skype, please call Marie Monroe, activities director, at (563) 422-3814.