Ivy Bean regularly updates her Twitter account. That’s not so special — millions of people tweet all day every day.
What’s unusual is Ivy’s age: she’s 104, and cuts across the stereotype of older people rejecting new technology. Her enthusiasm for this means of communication also has a lifelong learning connection:
Ivy Bean [aged 104] … says she knows people must think it’s amazing that she’s so active on online, but she thinks it’s a good way of keeping in touch with people. …
Part of the reason Bean is so active online is because the care home makes activities for its residents a priority. One resident wanted to learn more about photography, so he now takes a course once a week at a local college. The home also helped another resident get a passport so he could visit his son in Spain. …
“We’re trying to do something different than knitting or crochet,” explained Pat Wright, the home’s manager. …
Wright says Bean is “very open” to new suggestions and new ideas and is always willing to have a go at something.
[Via : Active Twitter user celebrates 104th birthday - CNN.com.]
It’s well known that learning new things throughout our lives helps to keep us mentally active and flexible. Our bodies may grow less flexible and resilient, but our minds can keep on growing.
I commend the rest home that actively encourages its residents to take up new and different activities, and then enables those interests.
Ivy Bean
Ivy Bean serves as a fine example.
Oh, and you know what? Ivy tweets about the weather, what she had for dinner, and about getting her hair done. To all those who snootily dismiss Twitter as being the domain of the mundane and trivial, I say Ivy’s as much entitled to talk about the realities of her life as anyone else.
Ivy defends her Twitter account too:
please follow our manager pat @patricia133 she has just joined twitter to keep every one updated on the home and it will keep her off mine
[Via : Ivy Bean (IvyBean104) on Twitter.]
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