Progress often comes to us packaged differently than we had in mind. For me, sometimes it is wrapped in disappointment, but what is usually inside has the power to change the moment and bring out the better.

I was tempted to be disappointment and give up when I told my mother we wanted to hook up Skype so we could see and talk to each other over the net. She was reluctant to add a new gadget to her computer. But she trusted me enough to go to store to make the purchase of a web cam. It’s hard to buy a Christmas present for someone who has stated, “Don’t buy me anything this year. I’m done needing stuff.” It was very helpful to have my wife acting as a cheerleader, “You can do it, You can do it, I know you can!”

As we worked through the disappointments of setting things up, not getting a video feed, then getting it, then loosing it, then no sound, it started to look like my mother’s expectations would win out and the exercise won’t be worth the effort. When came progress! The laptop was Skypeing with the desktop.

The third time we Skyped with Mom from 450 miles away, she got to speak to and see two of her great grandsons, Toby (6) and Tyler (2 1/2). The payoff had come. Before the call ended she said, “I like this, it’s great to stay in touch this way!”

Keeping senior adults connected to the younger generations is more important today maybe than in the past, because as technology changes the amount of data we process at higher and higher speeds, we need to slow down enough to stay in touch with what and who can remind us of our humanity. Staying in touch with senior adults, now on the other edge of life bring us a very valuable perspective that fills in the circle of wisdom. They help us remember that we are created works of art and valued for that alone.

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