A screen can bring someone close while leaving their circumstances far away.

A video call delivers a face and almost nothing else. You can see somebody’s expression in detail and still have no idea whether the flat is cold, whether they have eaten, how far the shops are, who came round this week. Presence and circumstance travel separately now, and the vividness of the face makes it easy to believe you are fully informed. Distance has not gone; it has just become harder to notice.

Ask the practical questions the screen cannot answer. What the week actually looks like, what is difficult at the moment, what would genuinely help: none of it will arrive unprompted through a camera.