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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Cyber senior Skypes at 99
Started with email; where will it lead?
If you've been using your age as an excuse for not keeping up with technology, Iva Sanderson may put you to shame.
"You're never too old to learn," says the active 99-year-old. "That's if you want to. You have to want to."
Sanderson is proof that getting older doesn't have to mean losing touch. When she was 90, she decided to learn to use a computer. She was visiting family in Calgary and asked how to send an email. Her fascination with modern technology began that day.
"I used to use an IBM Selectric," says the former real estate agent. "When I held the (computer) key down, the letters just buzzed across the screen."
When Sanderson got home, she asked her step-daughter to look for a bargain computer. Instead, the younger woman brought over her own computer for the nonagenarian.
A resident in her assisted-living facility had a 13-year-old grandson who was willing to teach the newbie some new skills.
"He sat beside me and showed me a few things. I just sort of figured it out from there."
Sanderson initially used her computer just to send emails to her extended family. She moved on to Google and still uses her computer to research subjects she finds interesting.
There was a brief flirtation with Facebook, but Sanderson says she became annoyed at the number of strangers who wanted to be her friend.
This year, at 99, she mastered Skype, chatting online with family across North America.
The St. James woman has her own apartment in her block. She's got a full kitchen and cooks when she feels like it. She still goes out for lunch with friends. She regrets her travelling days are over now.
Sanderson uses a walker but still stands straight and true. It's a cliché, but she could easily pass for a woman 20 years younger.
She's had an interesting life, one that prepared her to be open-minded about new things. Her father was a Methodist pastor who changed parishes (and often provinces) every three years.
She married and started a family. When the Second World War began, her husband was shipped overseas. Her family persuaded her to leave Toronto and come back to Winnipeg with her young family.
Her husband was gone five years. The family had to get used to each other when he got home. William McConnell died in 1966 at age 63.
Sanderson remarried when she was 75. She didn't go looking for love, she says, but met a lovely man when she was out walking her dog. Ted Sanderson was not a complete stranger. She'd seen him at church and at the Courts Of St. James, where they both lived.
"Come alive at 75," Sanderson chuckles.
Her second husband passed away 15 years ago.
"We didn't have a lot of time, but we crammed a lot into that time."
She has had very good fortune with her health. She doesn't wear glasses or need a hearing aid. She has congestive heart failure but chalks that up to living so long.
"People are shocked when they find out how old I am," she says with a grin.
She discovered alternative and herbal medicine years ago. She swears that's what helped her avoid triple heart bypass surgery. She became a product distributor in her 70s and organized gatherings of authors, practitioners and consumers with an interest in non-medical treatments.
But it's the computer that really grabbed her time and attention in the past decade. She loves Skype because she can visit with her family in real time. Her granddaughter in Minneapolis took her on a video tour of her new home. Her Toronto niece gets in touch for a quick chat.
She feels connected to the outside world.
In fact, Sanderson has been gently nagging her children to embrace technology. Youngest son David, who is 63, has been getting an earful. "You have to keep up with the times," she reminds him.
"I couldn't live without my computer now," she says. "If it wasn't here, I don't know what I'd do. If I want to know something, it's right there."
Her final advice? "At least give it a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as the old saying goes."
lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 13, 2012 B1
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About Lindor Reynolds
National Newspaper Award winner Lindor Reynolds began work at the Free Press as a 17-year-old proofreader. It was a rough introduction to the news business.
Many years later, armed with a university education and a portfolio of published work, she was hired as a Free Press columnist. During her 20-plus years on the job she has written for every section in the paper, with the exception of Business. She’ll get around to them some day.
Lindor has received considerable recognition for her writing. Her awards include the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ general interest award and the North American Travel Journalists Association top prize.
Her work on Internet luring led to an amendment to the Criminal Code of Canada and her coverage of the child welfare system prompted a change to Manitoba Child and Family Services Act to make the safety of children paramount.
She has earned three citations of merit for the Michener Award for Meritorious Public Service in Journalism and has been awarded a Distinguished Alumni commendation from the University of Winnipeg. Lindor was also named a YMCA/YWCA Woman of Distinction.
She is married with four daughters. If her house was on fire and the kids and dog were safe, she’d grab her passport.
lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca
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