Spent some time on the phone with a friend of my father’s giving iPad technical support. 

One of the great tragedies of aging is the decrease in physical capabilities. Things that were once easy are now hard.

As my mother battles a degenerative physical disease, easy things like getting up from a chair and walking around have become harder. With decreased mobility, feelings of isolation increase.

To help her stay connected, my wife and I bought her an iPad while we were back in Iowa. She seems to have taken to it and even called me on video chat this morning. I enjoyed seeing the smile on her and my father’s faces.

Now let’s step back two days.

While my son and I were driving back to Oregon, a friend of my father’s called me. Since I was driving I could not take the call, but my son took it and promised that I would call back.

Being of distracted mind that afternoon, I promptly forgot he called. Until tonight.

I returned this gentleman’s call, a bit embarrassed, and apologized for failing to respond promptly. He chuckled and said that it was alright. His questions were not time sensitive he said, but rather concerned my mother’s iPad.

He knew of a program, Wilbor, through the Iowa public libraries where books can be downloaded for free to library patrons. He was unfamiliar with Macs, but he still wanted to download the software onto my mother’s iPad so she could check out library books.

Hearing this, I was excited to help him figure out how to download the software. And with a little luck, the next time he is at my parent’s place he’ll be able to get mom setup so she can be connected to her local library.

Assuming things work out, my help will help my father’s friend which will in turn help my mother.

It was like links in a chain. I gave a little which connected to a need of a friend of my fathers. Then, strengthened by that connection, he will help my mother connect to her local library.

A giving chain.