What to get him for Christmas

My oldest son lives a couple thousand miles away. The distance isn't just physical but soul and spirit. We just don't have enough time together or enough good long talks on the phone to really know each other these days. I love him dearly. He is one of these introverted techy types. Brilliant really. I'm proud of him. He's a man of integrity and there aren't many in his generation. Christmas and birthdays just serve to emphasize the black hole lies between Wisconsin and Nevada. I just don't know what to get him.

I've found some really neat techie sites like OhGizmo! that have cool stuff, but it's only the expensive items out of my price range that I would feel sure that he'd like. I do have fun looking though, as I'm a bit of a techie (and a Treckie) myself. I'm not really finding things that satisfy my heart enough to make me feel good in sending them. So do I give in and buy a gift certificate or send something I can afford, like the pencil sharpeners where you stick the pencil up this plastic nose to sharpen it. Will he think it's funny or will he think I'm insulting him? It's hard to have so much distance between us.

His work and our poverty have kept us from traveling to spend time with each other over the years. He's not a phone person, but we have had a few good late night talks. As I think of him and wonder how to express the love I feel in the gift I send I realize all the more how much I miss him and long for the days when we were closer.