My neighbor is 78 and lives alone. She’s always been kind, quiet, and independent. A few weeks ago, I noticed a young man visiting her almost every afternoon.
At first, I thought nothing of it.
But every time he came over, I’d hear shouting and terrified screams through the walls. It got so frequent that I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
One afternoon, I finally knocked on her door.
The screaming stopped instantly.
A few seconds later, she opened it wearing an old floral apron, looking embarrassed but completely unharmed.
Before I could ask if she needed help, the young man appeared behind her, red-faced and out of breath.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’m her grandson.”
The elderly woman smiled and gently patted his arm.
“He insists on teaching me how to use my new smartphone.”
I must have looked confused because she laughed.
“I’m not screaming because he’s hurting me,” she explained. “I’m screaming because every time he says, ‘Just press the little blue button,’ the whole screen disappears, my glasses fog up, and I think I’ve deleted the entire internet.”
Her grandson couldn’t stop laughing.
“And she’s convinced every pop-up means someone is stealing her bank account.”
They invited me in for tea, and within minutes she proudly sent me her very first text message.
It simply read:
“IS THIS WORKING???”
It was.
Now every Sunday I hear shouting again—but it’s just her learning video calls and proudly yelling, “CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?” The entire neighborhood smiles when they hear it.