Learning New Tricks

Technology has never been my grandma's thing, but she is very savvy in other categories. She can rustle up some delicious grub before you can even say you're hungry. Magic flows from her fingers and into the sewing machine as she creates and mends anything within reaching distance. She is really good at coloring with us in coloring books and somehow brings the elephants and mice to life with just Crayons. Her chicken nuggets and French fries are to die for; no one makes them better.

Movies and TV were the only kind of technology Grandma had.

However, this year changed her life forever.

She got an iPad.

I first found out about this when I got an email from her. I almost fell out of my chair in shock. Grandma's email was absolutely darling: she said it had taken her two hours to write it, but she did a really good job with it.

Now everyday I check my email to see if Grandma has sent me anything. I love reading what she sends me. Lines like, "I tried to be sick [so she didn't have to go to the Family History Center] but it didn't work. Grandpa is too smart", "E-mail is the last thing I look at before going to bed, first thing in the morning, and if I've been gone I look again as soon as I come through the back door", and "I spend more time on my iPad than I should. Am I getting lost in a different world, or just joining the world?" make my day.

That's one of the things I like best about my grandma: how much she makes me laugh. We can giggle like schoolgirls about boys or nothing at all, and she pulls faces all the time behind Grandpa's face when he's talking. After a visit to Grandma's house, my stomach hurts, and not only from all the good food but also from laughing so much. She always asks if we're sitting on a feather, but we're really just laughing because she's being hilarious.

Even with this technology Grandma just learned, she can still make me laugh.