A Centenarian Reflects on the Positive Impacts of Technology

Every day, 10,000 Americans turn 65 years old, and every day, they’re redefining what it means to grow older. At GreatCall, we truly believe that technology is transforming the way Americans age, and have seen its positive impact first-hand. As a company that creates products and services that work together to allow older adults to stay safe, connected and healthy, stories of older adults inspire us every day.

To that end, we recently challenged documentary filmmakers to tell a story to start a conversation about what growing older means in our current culture, and maybe even how technology is impacting that journey. Here is filmmaker Mickelle Martin’s thoughts on his take on this subject.

March 2, 1917

“My Great Grandmother Anne has always been my claim to fame. She is currently 101 years old and still has radiant life and energy running through her mind and body. (Her older sisters lived to 106 and 102, and I think she will outlive them by a longshot.) When I saw the prompt for this video opportunity, I knew she would be perfect, so I called her up and asked if I could do it. She said yes, “but no photographs.” Haha, little did she know… it was about to be a four-minute documentary all about her. She was a super good sport, and we had lots of laughs (and treats) while filming. She is really sharp and keeps surprising me with how clever she is! It was a delight just to spend time with her, and now we have this video for all of her posterity. I sent it out to all of my extended family to keep, and they love it. There are so many wonderful stories in the raw footage that I had to cut out of the final video for the sake of time, but I will preserve them and cherish them forever!”

Have a story of your own to share? Let us know in the comments below! And for more inspiring videos, free caregiving tips and active aging resources, sign up for updates with your email using the box on the right of this article.