Who Has Inspired You?

If my grandmother were alive today she would be on FaceBook. I know this because she rarely refused the opportunity to learn about or to try something new. She also loved people of all ages and maintained a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. My grandmother is at the far right in this last family photo taken in December 1989, just several months before her death.


One incident in particular captures the spirit of curiosity and mindfulness that characterized my grandmother in her later years.

In 1987 while attending graduate school I lived with my grandparents in the home they shared with my mother. Grandmother was intrigued by my new Apple Macintosh, which I had purchased just shortly before moving home from New Jersey to start school. I was hardly unpacked before she knocked on my door, entered and asked me, "What does it do? How do you use it?Will you teach me how to use it?"

I still remember the very first thing she typed up and printed by herself. It was a short note to Grandpa that said:

I love you Louis. I typed this on Kaye's thingamajig.
Love,
Lorraine

Grandpa was neither impressed nor curious but Grandmother was undaunted by his antagonism to the "newfangled stuff." And so she pressed on in her exploration.

By the time she passed away in 1990, at the age of 88 she was banking by telephone and using my Mac to keep her books balanced and type up her Ladies' League newsletters and correspondence.

In addition to embracing new technology my grandmother also maintained a wide circle of acquaintances of all ages, many far younger than she was. She enthusiastically set out to meet her new neighbors when they moved from the house into an apartment closer to their doctors and other services. Many afternoons when I visited I would find her out by the pool surrounded by people and kids of all ages. The young people loved her, while her peers worried, "She is going to get herself into trouble hanging out with those kids!"

Well, I am finally old enough to truly understand the value of her example. I often find myself wondering why my daughters love to text, or how others find Facebook so interesting and useful. But then I shake myself and remember that Grandmother showed me the way to grow old well is to remain curious about my world and to stay connected to the cultural and technological change going on around me by establishing friendships with people younger than me. I hope to do her legacy justice.

So, Margo can you show me one more time how to recommend someone as a friend on Facebook?