We went to visit my husband’s mother this weekend. She will be ninety in a few weeks, and she is thinking of buying a laptop. Seriously. She spends the summers here in Missouri with her only daughter and then moves to Florida around Thanksgiving to spend the cold months with her oldest son. She doesn’t want to keep depending on other people for email access. We think in is a great idea, since her sisters live in California, and she has great-grandchildren in several states and more than one nation.
My own mother is keeping up with her great-grandkids on Facebook. She lives in such a rural area that she still has to use dial-up, but she perseveres. And she adds sweet comments here and there to remind the grandchildren she is interested in their lives and pulling for them in every adventure.
I’m seriously impressed. Some days I feel overwhelmed by all the widgets, gadgets, bleeps, and tweets of technology. I’m temped fairly often to list my iTouch on ebay and revert to the paper and ink pocket planner I fondly refer to as my Retroberry.
But, this legacy of spunk challenges me to press on. It challenges me to stay relevant and to stay connected. (Which I can totally do as long as my kids keep telling me how!)
This is how I feel too! I’m convinced technology is already so far past my knowledge and that I am caring less and less about until someday I’ll just want to crawl away in a hole with pen and paper and forget it. The grandmas are excellent encouragement to hang in there and be a part for goodness sake.
I just learned that my Grandmother (my mom’s mom) who is 84 and who has never owned a computer or emailed before that I know of just got a laptop so she can start emailing and keeping up with the family through the internet. I thought this was great! Definitely spunky.
You go Ms. Kathy! I “fell” into technology as a job quite by accident. I remember trying to teach my Dad how to do a spreadsheet in Excel back in 1996 (when he was 73). He really wanted to learn, but then passed away before he had a chance to really get into it.
And if you’re kiddos aren’t around to help, you can always call me. I like to help…
Oh my, I just noticed my you’re/your typo. ugh…
I love the term “retroberry!”
And I’m impressed that you have an iTouch because I have never owned anything nearly as technically cool. Nope. Not even a palm pilot.