By Delynda Pilon

My mom and I used to have conversations that would leave me speechless. I would come home from work, kind of happy and minding my own business and mom would hit me with a request.

Mom: Dee, you remember your Auntie Lana? Bruce’s oldest from  his first marriage? I haven’t seen her in ages but we were just like sisters growing up. I want you to get on the computer and tell her she should give me a call.

Me: ?????

She has been asking me to do things like this ever since Wayne Halliday, my best friend when I was 13, found me on Facebook. I told her all about Wayne getting a hold of me, and that he is living in Australia now, and how wonderful it was to hear from him. Some how she doesn’t think this is an anomoly, but thanks to my story and others like it friends and relatives have shared, this is what always happens on a regular day in computer land.

Mom: Just go onto Spacebook and find her.

Me: ?????

Oh ya. That’s the other thing. No matter how many times I tell her it’s Facebook, not Spacebook, she doesn’t remember - or maybe care. Anyway, she has done everything from asking me to find current addresses for long lost relatives to discover who my adopted great-grandma’s real birth parents were. Apparently all this information is on Spacebook, but me, being a thankless daughter who ignores her mom ruthlessly, just won’t access it for her.

So when mom decided it was time to get her own computer, a laptop no less, I thought it was a great idea.

My mom is blind in one eye and only has a small percentage of vision left in her other eye, but she can see the bright screen of the laptop. My dad, with the help of his specs, sees just fine, but because he was doing silly little things like ensuring his single mom and three siblings got a chance to eat while growing up, missed out on a formal education and doesn’t spell worth a darn. So he takes care of keyboarding while mom watches the screen and spells out websites for him. It is actually kind of cute and romantic - true love at 70 plus - but also pretty funny.Especially when dad lost her newly formed Spacebook account.

Dallas, my son, set up the account for her. She asked him to google her an email account as well, and he did that too.

A few days ago I wandered into the living room and noticed mom and dad were in a state of great anxiety.

Me: What’s up?

Mom: Your father lost my Spacebook.

Me: ?????

Then I figured it out. Dad forgot the password Dallas used to sign mom’s account up and couldn’t log on.

Mom: You better fix it.

Dad tossed his hands in the air and walked away. I asked for the password and stuff, but it wouldn’t log on.

Me: You either have the wrong username or password.

Dad: No I don’t. It’s the computer.

Mom: Maybe you should shut it down and then restart it. Then it might remember how to get on Spacebook.

I took a deep breath.

Me: Actually, if you just hit Forgot Password, it should email your password to your hotmail account, then you can log on or change it to one you can remember more easily.

Dad tried it. He really did. But, no matter how many times he did it, he couldn’t find mom’s hotmail account.

Dad: It says either the name or password is wrong.

Mom: Oh great. Now your father lost my Hotmail account too.

That was when Dallas finally came home. I was so grateful to see him I almost teared up. Dallas noticed the anxiety at once.

Dallas: What’s up?Mom: Your grandfather lost my Spacebook and now he lost my Hotmail too.

Dallas smiled that little smile he gets and sat down in front of the computer.

Dallas: Grandma, you don’t have a Hotmail account. You asked for a Google email account, and that’s what I made for you. Do you want a Hotmail account too?Well, Dallas was the hero of the day after that. First he found Spacebook, simply by spelling Mom’s password correctly, then he fitted his grandma out with a Hotmail account.

I also learned an important lesson that day. Before heading into the living room I stop first and listen. If mom and dad are bickering about Spacebook, I just turn around and quietly walk away.