MOM

My mother is learning e-mail
at age 83.
This may not seem like a big deal,
but consider that in the next room
she's still using
a rotary telephone.
And that almost every
modern invention she has in her house —
from VCR to microwave oven —
was preceded by years of
"I don't want it, don't need it,
it's just one more gadget
to complicate my life."
But though she's stubborn,
my mother is a practical person
with an unfailing instinct for survival.
In the last ten years,
it seems like most of her friends
have died or fallen ill.
Including Mike,
the loving companion
she miraculously met
after the death of my father.
My mother sheds her tears
and moves on.
She told me she has decided
to have a computer,
not (god forbid) because
it has any intrinsic value,
but because she wants to
live in the same world as her children.
Today, as I log on
and receive her e-mail,
"had some problem starting  but worked d
it out. hope i didn't do any damage.
signing off  at 5:25     Love   Mom"
I am thankful.
And proud.


© Ellen Azorin