Make room for me on technology speedway

My son and his wife shoveled snow for six hours on Christmas Day, during what was called Minnesota’s worst winter storm in 30 years. You know it’s a bad storm when Minnesota churches cancel services and other events are called off because of snow.

Generally, in Minnesota, they just tighten up the scarf, put on the mittens and keep shoveling. I helped out by documenting the event with my new digital camera. I am still at the “off with their heads” stage, and I couldn’t focus in the snow, but there’s a nice picture of the shovel handle and hands.

Being certifiably wimpy, and from the Northwest, where “you don’t have to shovel rain,” I was allowed to stay in the house with my two little grandsons. We demonstrated solidarity by watching “Ice Age 3.”

A snow blower is high on the family wish list. With their current household budget, it will take about five years to save up for a good heavy-duty one. That means that when the next decade arrives, they’ll be able to reminisce and say, “Remember back in 2009 when we had to dig out of that big winter storm by hand?”

I am sure they will do this because it is the custom as the decade changes, to look back over the past 10 years and try to make some sense of it all. Newspapers do it. Dave Barry does it. My turn now.

Ten years ago, I confessed that I was not computer literate, not yet on the Internet Highway. In fact, I was not even at the first bus stop. I had plenty of company. Today, the biggest use of the Internet is driven by those of us older than 55.

In July 2000, I wrote about a brand-new assisted living facility which opened in downtown Tacoma. It made headlines and was a big hit with the adult children of prospective residents by offering only “heart-healthy foods.”

A special chef was imported who would cook and serve only what was good for the new residents. This paradise of perfect nutrition lasted exactly 10 days. Then there was a near riot. Residents were not satisfied with perfect food. They wanted pizza. They wanted tacos, and they wanted junk food. And they got it.

Over the past 10 years, most mail has come in response to columns about health issues – and the frog, of course. In January 2000 I wrote about my TIA (transient ischemic attack, sometimes called a “mini stroke”) and urged everyone to create and carry a list of all the medications they take and what they’re taking it for – and see that family members have a copy. I also urged them to list contact people so hours won’t be lost trying to find out who to call, as it was for me.

“It may seem that we’re now talking about carrying a document roughly the size of the first draft of ‘War and Peace,’” I wrote, “But a report released by the National Center for Health Statistics showed that Washington has the seventh-highest stroke death rate in the country.” (This state has now dropped to 13th.)

A report released in 2000 said that the group of people 55 years of age and older owned 77 percent of all the financial assets in America. That’s still about the same. Not me, of course. All of my assets are tied up in under-eye concealer and sculpting mascara.

The years ahead look very uncertain, but yesterday I held my 8-day-old great-grandson, while his big brother looked on proudly. I took out my new digital camera to capture the moment. Click. Missed his head. Click. Missed the brother. Click. Got part of the dog. Click. At last. Baby and brother! Now, take the camera and get a picture of me with the baby, please.

When 2020 comes and this little boy will be 10 years old, Great-Grandma Dorothy, if luck and health hold, will have these pictures and memories to share, “That’s you, darling. And that’s great-grandma holding you. I know you can’t see my head but it’s not important. I wasn’t using it anyway.”

Read Dorothy’s Day by Day excerpts from the last decade’s columns at dorothywilhelm.wordpress.com or follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NevertoolateMom. Dorothy Wilhelm is a professional speaker, humorist and columnist and the host of “Never Too Late” for Comcast On Demand. She can be reached by e-mail at DOROWIL@aol.com or on the web at www.itsnevertoolate.com.