Yet nothing replaces seeing each of them, giving them a kiss and hug and wishing them a Merry Christmas.
Another was an exchange in broadcasts each of them gave on the fifth anniversary of the "velvet revolution" in November 1994.
The banks might settle at that point, writing checks to everyone who had gone through a disputed foreclosure in exchange for each of them giving up the title.
When I asked them how they came to be Abu Ibrahim's guests, each of them gave a rousing testimonial as to their host's humanity and generosity, and their hopes that the Free Syrian Army would soon vanquish the evil Assad regime.
As they stood on the Hohenzollern bridge and looked at the mighty breadth of rushing stream, each of them gave his heart leave to leap up if it would and if it could.
Then the visitors began to speak, and each of them gave the President the same message: his regime was corrupt, brutal, and unrepresentative, and young people had no prospects.
Steve Vassallo, a principal at Foundation Capital, a venture investment firm, said: "My friends call it 'the Google money tree.' You get some half-baked idea, you talk to five people at Google, and each of them gives you $50,000".
When six different prisoners were asked separately and in private about how their feet were wounded, each of them gave evasive answers, including two who said, simply but uncomfortably, "I forgot".
However, each of them gave valuable comments to some questions.
