The gift of years

... life at 82

by Ed Wright

I recently experienced my total lack of understanding about modern technology in a very specific way when I volunteered at the Senior Center to be interviewed by a robot. The robot's name was Nexi which I took to be female -- a fact which indicates how I had to think of this strange machine as human. I was escorted into the interview room by a recent MIT graduate. I sat down facing Nexi who then introduced herself. I responded, "my name is Ed." I kept thinking there was a wee creature inside who was talking to me.   I am about thirty years behind the times in my understanding of technology. I don't own a computer. I do own a stereo turntable which plays phonograph records by Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra and Benny Goodman. To me a blackberry is a small piece of fruit not the latest phone device. My TV remote frequently causes me trouble. The buttons stick when I spill jam on them. From all things mechanical or electronic, I suffer from regular fears and enormous frustration when they don't work. So, as Nexi continued to talk to me, I lived in fear that I wouldn't give the correct answers to questions about my likes, dislikes and my family. I also wondered if Nexi might, at the end of the session, go berserk and attack me because she didn't feel my answers were truthful. And there was also the possibility that Nexi might explode in a fit of rage. I really never accepted the fact that I was conversing with a piece of machinery. At the end Nexi said goodby to me and the coordinator opened the door. From the outside I breathed a sigh of relief at my escape. Another thing I have learned in my eighties is that a fair number of seniors have had hip or knee replacements. I have also learned how many people walk with a limp or use canes and walkers. I became sensitive to this after I blew out a hamstring at the YMCA and needed a cane to get around. I continued to limp for about two months. What you gain is new fellowship with limpers and new hip owners. What you do learn at 82 is gratitude for the "gift of years." You know you are lucky to be alive. That is why we call being here now "the present." It is also amazing how many people in their eighties have had and survived life-threatening surgeries and/or heart attacks. I am a member of that club also. In some ways life at 82 is about showing up, being around and being thankful for the gift of years. November 6, 2009

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