Christmas is just around the corner, and I am asking Santa Claus to bring me a new computer.  My 14-year-old grandson tells me that my present computer is a senior citizen with slow responses and poor memory.  I understand that very well, since I am in the same boat.  Never in my life did I ever think that I would desire a new computer for Christmas, but here I am.

For over ten years, when I was a working educator, I fought the use of a computer or anything that would require me to learn some new technology.    After all, I reasoned, I was a senior citizen and shouldn’t I get a break from all that new stuff?  But then I gave in when my youngest child, who was in college at that time, said, “Mom, you won’t be able to keep up with everything that is going on in the world.  You absolutely need to buy a computer and learn how to use it.”

So, husband and I went shopping and with advice from all our adult children purchased our first computer.  Over the next thirty years, five more new computers have graced our home, and we have managed with some help to make additional progress with each computer addition.

What I learned as I tentatively began to use technology was that it was really good for my old brain to tackle something new.  Then I found that I got into some interesting conversations when I could discuss with others the usefulness of technology.  Finally, I fell in love with the internet the first time that I needed a recipe for stew in a crock pot, and Google showed me the quickest and easiest methods for preparing a meal that my husband actually enjoyed.

Time passed and when my middle-aged children pressured me into acquiring a smart phone, I never dreamed what a great tool it would become for tutoring students, which is one of my greatest joys.  Pulling out my phone when I am trying to help a youngster with the new math, science or literature, that I know nothing about, is a sure way to get quick, accurate answers.  It not only assures the student that I am part of the technology generation, but gives me the confidence to instruct in an area that I never learned or have long since forgotten.

Many years ago, when the new-age prophets declared that we would be living in the age of information by the 1980s, I believed that my Encyclopedia Britannica would be so heavy that I would not be able to lift it.  I never could have predicted that I would have all the information I needed in my phone or in my computer.  Now I will admit that I fought using technology with everything in my power, until I discovered how useful Google can be when I wanted to create a paper flower.   While my senior brain continues to slow down, I find the latest tools aid me in discovering and learning something new almost daily.

As Christmas edges closer, I am putting out the word by text and email that I would like some help toward purchasing a new computer.  I am even considering using AI to draft a letter to my children that would easily convince them to gift me a little cash.  I am hoping that Santa Claus will get the message, and on Christmas morning I will find that new up-to-date computer under our traditional tree.