By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Mae Scott can’t go out to lunch with her lady friends anymore because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 89-year-old can’t even attend service at First Christian Church.
Her world had already gotten smaller three years ago when she stopped driving, now a global pandemic has shrunk it even more. That is until she discovered Facebook and Pinterest.
Her son, Cleve Patten, said until very recently his mother did very little on the computer. Maybe reading a few emails, but never sending any of her own. She was even thinking of giving up on the computer
But with her now closed up in her Bowling Green home, he thought maybe if she could go on Facebook, she could see what her family – three children and many grandchildren, great grandchildren, and now a great-great granddaughter born in March.
So, using a remote desktop, Cleve is able to help her log onto Facebook, and then calls to guide her through.
He gave her instructions, and the next day when he checked in, she’d already logged on.
“Did I surprise you?” she asked.
Yes, she had, her son responded. “It seems to have really stimulated her,” he said.
“I’m trying to keep my mind sharp,” Mrs. Scott said.
She does that by doing puzzles and sewing outfits for her stone goose. She speaks regularly by telephone with her twin sister, June, who lives in Hoytville. And she bakes. Now that she’s on Pinterest she’s seeing new recipes.
Mrs. Scott said she just found one for lemon cookies that she plans to bake soon, and she might even try a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies to see if it’s better than her tried-and-true version.
She checks in on two church services – the one at her home church and First United Methodist in Gibsonburg where Cleve serves as a musician.
In her life, she’s never seen anything like this current pandemic. But then with all the new media from radio to Facebook, people are much more aware of what’s going on, she said.
To her what compares most to the coronavirus pandemic are the polio outbreaks of the 1940s and 1950s. Mrs. Scott had a cousin who was paralyzed by the disease. “That was a scary thing.”
Once the stay-at-home order is lifted, she expects she’ll stick with social media to keep up with those people who have become her Facebook friends.
