The hardest was keeping her system "clean"... I installed a group of programs I'd used for years which had given me a clean, trouble-free computer. But one thing I realized early on... the system of programs only work when you enable them and leave the settings as I set them (something Mom had problems with). She lost so many smart phones, I told my sis I think she was doing it on purpose because she couldn't use them correctly. My husband, at 74, insists on one of the dumb flip phones. I can't help him much with it, but as long as he can hear the "ring" and answer or place a call, that's all he needs to do on it, anyway. A smartphone would only get him into trouble with scams, etc. He's at the point where he basically believes all the scams and "offers" are in earnest. More than once I've had to pull our fat out of the fire... and one time I couldn't, because he had given our entire checking and savings account money to "FBI" scammers. That was a few months I really don't ever want to live through again. But beyond the technology going beyond our reach, it's the stuff that should have been over once we reached 65 and retired that gets me. Things like having to choose a healthcare provider because you got tricked into going on MA instead of straight Medicare. Or dealing with all the changing costs and fees and deductibles, even in MA, now that trump got his "big beautiful bill." Things like this I consider to be designed exquisite torture to all seniors. It's geared to be a losing proposition. Not everyone has kids or grandkids to help them thru all the decisions and paperwork. And it seems like the older you get and the less resilient your brain, the more authoritarian governments (Bush and trump) make you use it beyond your capability. For the second time today I'll say... Yeah, but who ever said life is fair? (sigh)
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