Hello again . Carolyn here. Mikol and I just returned from a business trip to Phoenix, and we were fortunate enough to be able to take a side trip over to beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico. We had the chance to go inside these caves where tribes of Indians once lived.
It was such a beautiful and spiritual experience. I think the Indians totally understood how all of us and all things are connected. Being connected is the topic of this newsletter. And today Mikol is going to share with you a great tip he discovered that helps us do exactly that with our aging parent. Here he is . . . Thanks Carolyn. Mikol here and the great tip I want to share with you today is something that you can do to use technology to better stay connected to your aging parent. My mom, now 87 years old, was computer phobic before Dad died. She wouldn’t even touch the thing. My Dad spent hours on the computer every day. He tried to teach her, but she always refused. After he passed away, I was able to convince her that she just had to learn to use the computer, at least a little. She told me she regretted not learning from Dad, but she was ready now. The problem was, we live hundreds of miles away. What could we do? First, I figured that with her arthritis in her hands, a “turbo ball” mouse would work better. We tried it and it worked wonderfully. I flew out to spend a couple days with her and she was able to learn the basics of using the mouse, scrolling, and clicking and dragging. She was proud of herself that she could do it and I was proud of her too. Then, after I returned home we had to figure out how I could help her from afar. After all, she knew very little and when she got stuck, she always called me. I found this great free service called “LogMeIn”. It allowed me to use my computer to see her computer screen remotely from anywhere in the world. I could also control her computer remotely from wherever I was, as she watched (or not). We would have sessions where I would show her various basic tasks like email and other things like that. I was even able to show her how to go online to pay her bills. It worked great and we are still using it today. One of the biggest advantages, of course, is that you can then monitor how their money is being spent, and you have a way to be sure no one is ripping off your parent. If you have an aging parent who is open to the idea, I encourage you to try this tip out for yourself and see your parents bills each month. It lets you protect your aging parent in a very efficient way when money matters. And when does it not right? Money is one of the most stressful parts of caring for aging parents. But there is a stress-free solution. If you want to make dealing with an aging parent’s finances easy, you can. And we can show you how. So, that’s it for today. Carolyn and I hope you have enjoyed this newsletter. We have definitely enjoyed making it for you. Our best to all of you and we hope you are in good spirits in your journey with your aging parents. Until next time, Carolyn & Dr. Mikol Agingparents.com |
