Dakota Center for Independent Living

Dakota Center for Independent Living

Ted, My Hero

I met Ted through a Dakota Center for Independent Living computer/cell phone workshop held at the Bismarck Senior Center on March 23, 2017.  Ted showed up with a laptop.  When I asked him what he wanted to learn on his laptop, he said, “I don’t know. My son sent this to me and I haven’t even turned it on yet.”   This just brings joy to my heart when I hear of these hard working and now seasoned retirees that are not afraid of this ‘technology world’ that we find ourselves in today.  So many of them tell me how dumb they are, and I love to tell them that the truth of the matter is that they were working hard, providing for their families the best way that they could, while all these youngsters  were growing up using this new technology for everyday life.  I tell them that I can imagine they may have accomplished much more in their lives than many of this younger generation will even dream of accomplishing.  So it is with Ted.

Ted said that his kids have FaceBook and he would like to stay in contact with them by viewing their photos and instant communication through messenger.  So, ‘we’ began with signing him up with a FaceBook account.  I say ‘we’, however I didn’t sign him up for it, HE insisted that he did the registering so that “he could learn how this all works”.   The only thing that I did was to go onto my own computer and get him a required email address registered, as FaceBook requires an email address for comfirmation.  While signing him up for an email service because it requires a birthdate, I learned that Ted was 91 years young.  NOW, I am REALLY impressed!  How many of our seniors are willing to step out of their comfort zone and branch into the new realm of communication?  Ted is my new HERO!

Ted is a faithful friend of mine on Facebook and I am so impressed at how brave he was jump right into this world of technology.  He uses it well and he appreciates how we were able to help him to venture into the cyber world.