Open Writing

Every night I read as much as I could manage to take into my brain and then I would feel obliged to get up in the middle of the night and see if I could transfer what I had learned onto the computer screen.

My days began to get very long and my nights were getting shorter, but I didn’t care. It was all so new, so wonderful and so exciting, especially when something I had read about actually worked.

Happily, this was happening more often and my confidence began to grow.

I was now able to show my husband some of the wonderful places we could visit and learn about.

"Look at London. The people are actually moving on the screen. And it is all happening at this moment, as we watch. Isn’t it wonderful? And look at Mars. Can you imagine, we are looking at it now, where the spacecraft is at this very minute?"

We sat for hours, in awe. Yes, this really was wonderful. And it only cost $1 for an hour. We were getting very good value.

This was our new form of entertainment, and we loved it. Forget about television and the cinema, we sat glued for hours at a new screen. Oh dear. Excuse me. Monitor’.

However I eventually discovered that while we were surfing the Net no one could reach us on the phone because we were using the telephone line.

Here we go again, I thought, will it never end? We had to have a second line. We were lucky. There was a special offer.

At last that was it! Finished. No more extras to pay and now I was able to use the Internet without any worry.

I was due to go to England in October that year to see my mother, my children, grandchildren and friends. I left was to be away for two months.

I kissed my husband goodbye and covered my computer.
Two whole months without my husband and two whole months without my computer. However would I survive?
I stayed at different times with family and friends, and when I was staying with my son, Gordon, and his family, he suggested that I should go with him to his office on the Monday morning, before taking me back to my mother who lived in Reading. Forty miles away.

We had to leave at 6.15 a.m. so that we would beat the mad rush of traffic going into London.

By leaving so early, he said , we would avoid a whole hour of driving and the frayed nerves that come with sitting in long queues of traffic. He always did this.

It was dark when we left home and dark when we arrived at his office. The night cleaners were just leaving. There was no one else in the office so he made coffee and we chatted . Gordon now had time to explain some of the things I wanted to know about the Internet.

Gradually, staff began to arrive, and Gordon introduced me to members of his team. "This is my Mother, she lives in Australia, is seventy and on the Internet," he said.

I was staggered by such an introduction. Since when have I been introduced and my age mentioned? This was something very new to me and I was not sure I liked it.

The young men, all wearing suits, looked very smart and handsome.

"How are you enjoying your stay in England and what is the weather like now in Australia? Do you like living there?" I was asked. All questions that needed a reply, and I felt relaxed and happy, chatting with these polite young men who seemed interested in what I had to say.

Then I suddenly thought that maybe they were being kind to an old lady of seventy. I had never seen myself that way before but it could be the case.

I wondered. Yes, I wondered.

The two months passed so quickly, and soon I was once again back home in Australia. Home with Cy and back to the old routine, madly working on my computer again.

But now there was a difference, for when I sent an e-mail to Gordon I could visualise his office and see him at his desk. This allowed me the opportunity to feel a part of his world and gives me a lot of pleasure.

So hooray for Cy, for talking me into going on to the Internet - and for the wonderful world of the Internet.

As always, when I had settled back home I enjoyed reflecting on my holiday and the times I had shared with my family and friends, but stuck in my mind was the way Gordon chose to introduce me to his staff.

I know he is a kind young man and was not intending anything bad, but I felt touchy about the fact he had mentioned my age.

I was talking about my holiday with a friend and I happened to mention how I felt about this. She said she completely understood the way my son thought and explained it to me this way.

"Your son was proud of the fact that at your age you have the courage and desire to learn something very new. He sees you as a ‘With it Mum’," she said. "And that is why he chose to introduce you this way."

I believed my friend. Then realized we really are a very special breed, today’s ‘Golden Oldies. We have every reason to be proud of ourselves.

Buying a computer takes boldness and courage when you are of a certain age. There are words that are used in everyday speech by the younger generation, which we were never taught at school.

But we venture forth, confident, stretching our imagination, visiting places never seen before, asking questions and getting answers. Chatting to people we have never met and learning all the time.

When they were our age, our grandparents sat in their rocking chairs, read the daily paper, shuffling about the house, never going anywhere or doing much, bent over, worn out and old.

Today, we walk tall, watch our health, play tennis abd golf, swim, dance, travel and try to have open minds and keep up with the latest happenings in the world.

Yes, I can understand why my son introduced me to his team of young computer experts by announcing my age.

Now I feel good about it.

I have installed my Publisher Program all by myself and feel great.

Gordon told me, "Of I course you can do it, Mum, you will find it is easy."

He was right, and such faith has to be rewarded, so I had to do it.