"Worth A Thousand Words"

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

That old adage; "A picture is worth a thousand words", is so true.  Especially when it comes to video chatting with my Mom and Dad.

Earlier this week I talked about my techie 82 year old Mom setting up a Skype account so we could stay in better contact with each other.  It was great to see her.  She suffered a minor stroke a few years ago that left her with some problems with her speech.  This aphasia makes it difficult to understand some of her words when we talk on the phone.  With the video chat, I can see the expression on her face, I can read her lips and I can watch her reactions to what I am saying.  Our video visit was far less frustrating than our regular phone calls and far more comforting to me be able to actually see that she was o.k.  It was also great to see my Dad (86) in the background.  He is a funny guy and we got to joke around a bit until he got restless and left to tend to his yard.

Technical Difficulties?

One aspect of the video chat option that I sort of glossed over earlier this week was the whole set up on my Mom's end.  She has been using a computer for at least the last twenty years and she has an unquenchable curiosity when it comes to technology.  And yet, she did have a bit of trouble with downloading and understanding the Skype account.  She and I worked on it together over the phone but one of the challenges is that she had upgraded to Windows 8, I am still on Windows 7, and we were not looking at the same things on our respective computers.  Well, Mom did her research and figured it out on her own.  Someone less technically inclined would probably have quite a bit of trouble with it.

This should not discourage anyone.  Skype works well for my family, but there are lots of different programs out there like FaceTime (Apple) and TinyChat (web-based). I recently found another video chat program called FireChat.  I'm doing some research on it and will let you know what I find in a later post.

Coming Soon

While we are on the topic of technology, later this month my friend Mel Walsh Jones will join me as a guest blogger from time to time.  Look for her first post soon where she will discuss the many financial benefits available to you and your aging parents when you adapt to new technology.