A Computer for Christmas

An active child, winter's were spent sledding, building families of snow men, making snow forts, and having snow ball fights with my younger brother. Rosy cheeks, runny noses, and numb fingers, never thwarted our fun, but always made a tasty cup of hot chocolate and a cozy place in front of the fire appreciated and welcomed. Yet, in the winter of 1993, my interests took a sudden and unexpected turn.

As usual that Christmas, my mom made sure the presents beneath the tree were piled high and wide; she loves to spoil us on Christmas. I opened more gifts than I could have ever imagined wanting and today there is only one I can remember clearly. Earlier that year, my mom, a high school teacher, had signed up to attend a conference on bringing the technology of computers into the classroom. Through her experience, her enthusiasm for technology grew, inspiring her to buy a computer for our home and surprising us with the new Apple computer on Christmas Day.

I remember how, she and Papa (my grandfather and fellow technology enthusiast), spent hours that Christmas day, organizing wires and programming, getting the computer up and running. Soon, my brother, my sister and I, wide eyed and eager, were pushing and shoving each-other to catch a glimpse of what was happening on the small grayish screen of the large monitor.

We spent hours exploring all the fun to be had on KidPix, marveling at how we could draw a picture and then blow it up or how we could put together a puzzle without ever worrying about losing a piece. We didn't even seem to mind waiting and watching that small circular beach ball spinning on our screen to let us know the computer was thinking about our request.

The very small grayish screen of the Apple computer was soon to be replaced. The much larger and more colorful screen of a Dell filled its place in our kitchen. Now we could buy games on CD, to use on the computer, two of my favorites being "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?" and “Clue.” As it grew in importance in school, I found my-self having to type out my homework and becoming especially fond of that little animated paper clip that would sit in the corner of the page, just in case I was in need of help.

"Remember me? I'm Clippy"

Soon my sister was off to college with a brand new shiny Dell laptop and I was taking electives in high school, to learn programs like Excel and Power Point. In fact, this is where I was on 9-11, when the first plane hit the twin towers. Our school had gone from using TV’s on Carts and without cable access, to using mounted TVs in each classroom. Ms. Warner, my technology teacher, had turned on the CNN, for us to watch, as we struggled tediously through correctly in-putting formula’s into our excel spreadsheets, only to stop shocked at what we just saw on the news feed. Soon we were all searching the Internet, looking for the most immediate and current updates.

Eventually I purchased my own Dell laptop for college, depending on my computer for research, completing online homework assignments (All you Gordon Science Majors, remember those Chemistry assignments?), presentations, and communication with my family and friends, who now seemed so far away. Rediscovering the convenience of Mac’s, as I worked in one of the offices on Campus, I soon graduated, replacing my Dell with my very own Mac Book, the same one I am using today, to write this blog!

Computers have not been the only piece of technology that has changed as each Christmas came and went. I can still remember opening my first Walkman and the pile of cassettes my mom got me to start my music collection.  Then there was the Christmas I gave up my cassettes, for a portable CD player and the year that we all watched the ball drop on New Years Eve, anxiously waiting to see if all of our precious technology would fail, as the clocked changed from 1999 to the year 2000. I remember my first I Pod, with a little engraving on the back that said, “You are the apple of my eye, love mom.”

My Sister in New Canaan CT, My Mom in Thomaston CT, and Me in Salem, MA using Skype to catch up.

This past Christmas, I received a brand new, sleek and slender I Phone 4S. I am using it to check my emails, keep a calendar, listen to music and stay connected to my friends and family. I can have a three-way phone conversation with my mom and my sister or better yet, face-time my mom and sister, who I don’t get to see as often as I would like. I can text with my brother, as he is a hard one to get on the phone, and play Words with Friends with my 86-year old grandmother, who has her own I Pad to help keep her connected with her 19 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

My Memere enjoying her new I Pad

Changing technology has been at the forefront of my childhood memories. I am so glad that I had a mother who welcomed and embraced technology rather than shrinking back at the thought of change. She has truly been and inspiration and a driving force for how I view and use technology today.