There have been many changes during the eighty-two years that I have lived.

When I was a child most people didn’t have a telephone in their home. One had to go down to the local telephone box to make a call.

Then in 1956, black and white television was launched in Sydney. There was just one channel TCN9. This was the start of entertainment in the home. In 1975 colour television came to Sydney.

It brought the outside world into our lounge room, children watched storybook characters come to life, adults were able to watch sporting programmes, and it changed our way of life.

Business companies started using computers; slowly they were introduced into the home. I remember my grandsons teaching me how to control the mouse. Then slowly I was able to do simple tasks. Now I use my computer almost every day.

When the first mobile phone was introduced in 1987, it was an analog, the size of a brick and one could only talk for 20 minutes, before the batteries ran out. The cost was around $3,800, which was certainly not affordable for the average person!  It was not something that most people were interested in.

Then came the digital mobile phones, many people started to use them. Once again our way of communication was changing. Some people embraced the change while many thought it was unnecessary. Now almost everyone has a mobile smartphone.

We live in a changing world; some changes are so small that we hardly notice them. I have seen many of these changes in fashion, hairstyles, house appliances and the way we interact with one another.

Then there is transport, what would take days, now takes only hours.

The saddest thing that I see is when people are afraid to learn about the new technologies that are happening around us every day. By not embracing these changes, they miss out on what this world has to offer.

As we get older it is more important to accept the changes happening around us and ask others to help us to understand how to incorporate them into our lives.

So often I hear people around my age say that family and friends don’t communicate with each other anymore. People still communicate with each other, it is just done differently now. Where once we wrote letters and posted them to each other, we now send an email.

I have a grandson that lives in America, and we spend time talking with each other each week on Skype. I get to speak with him face-to-face and even though we are a long distance apart, it feels like we have spent time in each other’s company.

While I am not up to date with all the latest technology, I am willing to give it a go. I often have difficulties learning,  but that is when my grandchildren become handy.

My world has changed and with it my way of life. I still maintain my values and my beliefs for that is part of who I am, but my willingness to keep an open mind helps me to continue to stay in touch and be part of the changing times.

– Nancy