Looking At A Pre-Social Media World Through My Mother-In-Law’s Eyes

My wife Meg’s 85 year old mother Margaret lives in Medford, Oregon, in a wonderful assisted-living facility where she’s lived for almost 10 years. We visit Southern Oregon often, for a variety of reasons, and we almost always work in a visit with Margaret when we’re there. Following a bicycle adventure last week around Crater Lake, we made the 87 mile trip from Crater Lake National Park to Medford in hopes of having lunch with Margaret and checking on her overall health and well-being. We became frustrated, as we seem to do more often lately, when Margaret refused to respond to cell phone messages, texts or emails confirming our arrival day/time. Knowing that she likes to attend church with friends on Sundays, we were concerned we’d miss her if we showed up without getting our plans squared away. It should be noted that many relatives have worked with Margaret to help her utilize modern communication technology, but she seems to get by fine without really mastering any of it. Her old-school communication style was adorably on display when we went to her room hoping to find her, and we found her way of “texting” us…we eventually found her in the dining room, and we had a lovely lunch 🙂

John Young