Could you spare some change?

Change. Lots of people do not like to change and find themselves set in their ways. Perhaps they are scared of what can potentially happen. My view is that there is no harm in change. It brings about new opportunities and new perspectives. What is so scary about that? Clearly I am an advocate of change but just because I moved across the country doesn't mean that everyone has to pack their bags and fly to a new state. (But if you are feeling awfully audacious, you'd just love it here) No no, change can start anywhere. That may have been what was going through my lack-of-technology-loving mother when she decided to finally join the realm of the jubilant Internet fanatics that are taking over the world. All of us fanatics already know how helpful, fast, and easy it is to "shoot someone an email" or "Wikipedia" something or go to weather.com for the 10-day forecast. The answers are flooding the Internet. What are the lyrics to that song? Oh I'll look them up on lyrics.com. What movies has that supporting actor been in? I know I've seen him but I can't figure it out! Imdb.com, please. Where are the old babysitters living now because we haven't heard from them in ages? Whitepages.com is the ticket! You catch my drift by now. Those are only a few examples to the wildly popular World Wide Web. Before my mom joined everyone on the dark side, her reasons for steering clear were quite valid. Yes, sitting in front of the computer can hurt your head and eyes after awhile. There are other things that we should do than sit in front of the computer or television. Why not call a person and actually have a conversation with them? Send a card or letter in the mail because those will mean more. While all of those are authentic ways to keep in touch or keep our minds fresh, something must have happened to cause my mom to create an email address. Something did happen. March Madness. Since I have been blessed with a family that likes to have a good time and joke around with eachother, why not have a friendly pool for the March Madness Tournament? In order for my mom to participate, she needed an email address to join the family pool and fill out her picks in the bracket. It's nearly September and that happened in March. (I won't spend a lot of time describing the details but since you were curious, I won the family pool. Thanks for asking!) My mom forgot she was given an email address until very recently so that is when she knew she could take the plunge. Seeing an email in my inbox from her was a fantastic feeling. Not only was the email witty, it informed everyone that the email would not take over her appreciation for the phone or mail. I was ultimately pleased with her Outlook (no she uses Gmail). While I will still talk to my mom several times each day, I now have the option to "shoot her an email". I am convinced she has changed a certain part of her life for the better. I said change is good right? Right. Never fear, she will be the bigger person and will not let the Internet take over. "Better late than never" can be applied to the situation because as much as we have discussed, teased, or encouraged her about the Internet, it was her choice to make the change whenever that may have been or if it may have occured at all. We're overjoyed at your new exploration and relieved that you can stay in touch with friends and family faster than priority mail but only if you want. After all, I am a greeting card aficionado because of you and we need to continue such a comforting tradition! As John Legend sings, "we don't have to wait for destiny, we should be the change that we want to see".....if you are inquiring abuot the rest of the song, lyrics.com can give you the answer...

Best,

Anne