“She has 14 grandchildren, and she loves spending time with them. Oh, she loves them so much! She will have them all over for a day, on special occasions, so they can spend time together. But while they are with her, she takes away all of their phones! She wants the kids to do real activities, and create memories together. She’s completely against kids these days being on their phones, and texting, and all that online social stuff. She hates it.”
“Uh oh. I bet the kids complain.”
“Well, sure. Some put up a ruckus. But you have to hear how she plans out these events! Like, they will all go out boating. And while they are out, she will take pictures of the scenery and the kids… you know, learning to sail, or whatever.”
“Pictures?”
“Yeah, she uses her old-fashioned camera! She’ll be snapping pictures the entire day. And then, in the afternoon, she’ll sit the kids down and have them write a little journal about what they did, and what they enjoyed about the day!”
“So she has them write about… their thoughts and experiences.”
“That’s right! Well, of course some of the little ones she will help them to write it down. But then–and here is the really sweet part!–after it is all over, she will gather together the pictures and the journals, and put them all together, and have them made into a book! So that way, they can share it with their friends and look back on it years later, and remember the fantastic time they had! Isn’t that sweet?”
“OK, let me get this straight. She takes pictures, and has them write down their thoughts and experiences, so that they can remember the good time they had together and share it with their friends?”
“That’s right. Isn’t that great!”
“You realize what that is, right? I mean… she just re-invented Facebook.”
(Long pause.)
“Well, don’t tell her that!”
That’s hilarious… of course for it to be like Facebook, the next time they want to look at the pictures of the day at the lake, there will be advertisements for oars and picnic baskets in the margins, right?
I love it. Do you think all of the grandkids would appreciate the Facebook memories as much as a book that Grandma made? I think both might be nice, just in case they lose the book.
In some ways, the actual book has a more “solid” reality, right? So it partially depends on what happens with technology and Facebook in the future. A physical book can get lost, but you can also stow it in a basement and find it and look through it 50 years later. Who even knows what will happen to online pictures in 50 years!?!? 🙂