Everyday help, one story at a time
Keeping their stories is the heart of it. It also helps with the ordinary business of a day: the chores, the plan for tomorrow, reminders at the times they choose, and reading and writing. Here is how each one goes.
It all happens in Telegram, a free texting app for phones and tablets that works a lot like the phone's own Messages app. They can type, or hold a button and talk (that's called a voice message), and the companion answers in writing or out loud.
Recording memories
Opal and the cannery summers
Companion: Good morning, Opal. Yesterday you got as far as your first day at the cannery. Want to pick up there?
Opal: I was fifteen. They put me on the line cutting fish, and the forelady was Mrs. Haugen, who never once smiled.
Companion: Never once? What would it have taken to get a smile out of her?
Opal: Nothing did, until the day I slipped and sat down in a bin of fish heads. She laughed so hard she had to sit down too.
Companion: That's a wonderful one. Do you want me to keep it in your book, with the cannery chapter? I can read the chapter back to you first.
Opal: Keep it. And read it to me tonight.
What came of it: Over two weeks of mornings, the cannery summers became a chapter in Opal's own words. She heard it read back, fixed two names, and sent it on to her son and both grandchildren.
Back to the list of stories
Family history
Harold's family, one name at a time
Harold: My granddad came over from Norway in 1903. Or maybe 1904. Worked his way out to Seattle.
Companion: Do you know his name, and where he settled?
Harold: Anders. He homesteaded up past Spokane and married a schoolteacher named Clara.
Companion: I've written down: Anders, came from Norway in 1903 or 1904 and worked his way out to Seattle, homesteaded past Spokane, married Clara, a schoolteacher. Do you know Clara's maiden name?
Harold: My sister Edna would know.
Companion: I'll put a question mark there for now. Would you like me to write out the question so you can send it to Edna?
What came of it: Harold's family list now runs four generations, with a question mark beside anything he isn't sure of. The stories he tells about each person are kept right next to their names. Harold sent Edna the question himself, and when she wrote back he told the companion: Clara's maiden name was Pettersen.
Back to the list of stories
Daily chores
Frank's morning list
Companion: Morning, Frank. Here's the list you gave me last night: feed the chickens, take the trash can to the road because pickup is Wednesday, and call the tire shop about the truck.
Frank: Chickens are fed. Trash is out. The tire shop doesn't open till 9. Their number is 555-0142.
Companion: Two down. That leaves the tire shop. You said they open at 9. Want me to send you a message at 9 with their number?
Frank: Do that.
Companion, at 9 a.m.: The tire shop is open now. Their number is 555-0142.
What came of it: Frank keeps his list by talking instead of on scraps of paper by the coffee pot. Anything he doesn't get to moves to tomorrow's list when he says so.
Back to the list of stories
Today's work and tomorrow's plan
June's evening check-in
Companion, at 7:30 p.m.: Evening, June. What did you get done today?
June: I finally got the tomatoes canned. Fourteen quarts! And I called Margaret about the quilt show.
Companion: Fourteen quarts is a good day's work. I've put it in today's notes. What's the plan for tomorrow?
June: Church at ten. Then I want to start cutting the squares for the baby quilt.
Companion: Got it. I'll send you a message at 9 about church, and at 1 o'clock I'll ask how the quilt is coming along.
What came of it: June's days are written down a few lines at a time, in her own words. Before her daughter's Sunday call, she asks the companion to read her the week, so she has it all right there to talk about.
Back to the list of stories
Medicine reminders
Lou's 8 a.m. pills
Companion, at 8 a.m.: Good morning, Lou. Time for your 8 a.m. pills, the ones in the blue box.
Companion, at 8:20 a.m.: Did you take them?
Lou: Not yet. Coffee first.
Companion: Fair enough. I'll ask again at 8:45.
Companion, at 8:45 a.m.: Coffee done? Did you take your 8 o'clock pills?
Lou: Took them. Say, I missed last night's. Should I take two tonight?
Companion: That's a question for your pharmacist or your doctor. Would you like me to write it down so it's ready when you call them?
What came of it: Lou and his daughter picked the times and the wording together when it was set up. The companion sends the reminders every day at the times they picked and asks whether he took them. It's a helpful nudge, and Lou keeps his pill box routine too, in case a reminder gets missed. What to take, and how much, stays between Lou, his doctor and his pharmacist.
Back to the list of stories
Reminders and alarms
Irene sets her own reminders
Irene: Remind me at 2:45 to leave for my hair appointment.
Companion: I will. At 2:45 today I'll send you: "Time to leave for your hair appointment."
Irene: And every Tuesday at 10 in the morning, tell me the library van is coming.
Companion: Done. Every Tuesday at 10 a.m.: "The library van comes today. Have your books by the door."
Companion, at 2:45 p.m.: Time to leave for your hair appointment.
What came of it: Irene sets reminders just by asking, for once or for every week. The phone dings like any text message, at the time she asked for.
An honest note about alarms. The companion's reminders are messages it schedules itself, the same way it sends pill reminders. They arrive at the time you set, as long as the phone has a signal, and the phone dings like any Telegram message. What it can't do is ring the phone's own alarm clock. So for a reminder to be heard, Telegram notifications need to be turned on with a sound, and the phone can't be on silent or set to Do Not Disturb.
Back to the list of stories
Learning something new
Hazel learns her birds
Hazel sends a photo of a small gray bird under her feeder.
Hazel: Who is this little fellow? He's out there every morning.
Companion: That looks like a dark-eyed junco: a gray hood, a pale belly, and white tail feathers that flash when it flies off. They like to eat on the ground under feeders, which is just where yours is.
Hazel: Teach me one bird a day. The ones that come around here.
Companion: I'd like that. Every morning at 9 I'll send you one bird: what it looks like, what its song sounds like, in words, and one odd fact about it. When you see one, send me a picture.
What came of it: Hazel can name a dozen birds at her feeder now and keeps a list of every one she has seen. Her grandson calls her the bird lady. When a photo isn't clear enough to tell, the companion says so.
Back to the list of stories
Reading for them
Gus and the letter from the water district
Gus sends a photo of a letter.
Gus: The print on this is too small. What does it say? Tell me out loud.
Companion, as a voice message: It's from the water district. They're replacing pipes on your road, so your water will be off this Thursday from 9 in the morning until noon. There's nothing to pay and nothing to sign.
Gus: Thursday. Huh.
Companion: Would you like a message Wednesday evening reminding you to fill a couple of pitchers?
Gus: Yes.
What came of it: Gus sends a photo of anything with small print, whether it's a letter, a label or a form, and hears what it says, or reads it on screen, with Telegram's text set large. When it's something he needs to act on, the companion offers a reminder.
Back to the list of stories
Writing for them
Clarence writes to his granddaughter
Clarence: Annie turns sixteen on Saturday. Write her something for the card. Tell her I'm proud of her, and tell her about my first car, an old '41 Ford I bought when I was sixteen. It had a hole in the floorboard, and I could watch the road go by under my feet.
Companion: Here's a start: "Dear Annie, happy sixteenth birthday. I'm proud of you. When I was sixteen I bought my first car, an old '41 Ford with a hole in the floorboard, and I could watch the road go by under my feet. Love, Grandpa." Want me to change anything?
Clarence: Make it "Love, your old Grandpa." She'll laugh.
Companion: Changed. I'll read it to you a line at a time while you copy it into the card.
What came of it: Clarence does the talking and the companion does the writing: birthday cards, a thank-you note for the neighbor, an email to the insurance company. He hears it read back, makes changes, and sends it himself.
Back to the list of stories
